LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PRESTON  CLOUD 


• 


PRESTON   E.  CLOUD,  JR. 


SECOND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 
REPORTf 


THE  GEOLOGY  OF 
CENTRE    COUNTY/ 

BY 

E.   V.   d'lNVILLIERS. 


APPENDIX   A. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  REPORT  TO  LYON,  SHORE  <fe  CO., 
By  J.  P.  LESLEY. 


APPENDIX  B. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  GEOLOGICAL  FORMATIONS. 
By  A.  L.  EWING. 


riTH  A  COLORED  GEOLOGICAL  MAP  OF  THE  COUNTY  ;  AND  PAGE  PLATES  OF  LOCAL 
SKETCH  MAPS,  CROSS  SECTIONS,  COLUMNAR  SECTIONS,  ETC. 


HARRISBURG: 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE   BOARD   OF   COMMISSIONERS 
FOR  THE  SECOND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 

1884. 


li  1VV  U  3 


Entered,  for  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  1884,  according 

to  acts  of  Congress, 
By  WILLIAM  A.  INGHAM, 

Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Geological  Survey, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


EH-ctrotyppd  and  printed  by 

LANE  S.  HART,  State  PrinUT, 

HarrlsburK,  Pa. 


BOARD    OF    COMMISSIONERS. 


His  Excellency,  ROBERT  E.  PATTISON,  Governor. 

and  ex-offlcio  President  of  the  Board,  Harrisburg. 

ARID  PARDEE,    -  Hazleton. 

WILLIAM  A.  INGHAM,  Philadelphia. 

HENRY  S.  ECKERT,  Reading. 

HENRY  McCoRMiCK,  -  Harrisburg. 

JAMES  MACFARLANE,  Towanda. 

CHARLES  A.  MINER,    -  Wilkes-Barre. 

JOSEPH  WILLCOX,  Media. 

Hon.  DANIEL  J.  MORRELL,  Johnstown. 

Louis  W.  HALL,    -  Harrisburg. 

SAMUEL  Q.  BROWN, Pleasantville. 


SECRETARY    OF  THE   BOARD. 
WILLIAM  A.  INGHAM, Philadelphia. 


STATE   GEOLOGIST. 
PETER  LESLEY, Philadelphia. 


ASSISTANTS  IN  1883. 


Professor  I.  C.  WHITE,  geologist,  in  Huntingdon  county ;  address  Morgan- 
town,  W.  V. 

Mr.  E.  V.  IVlNviLLiERS,  geologist,  in  Centre  county;  711  Walnut  street, 
Philadelphia. 

Mr.  A.  E.  LKHMAN,  geologist,  in  Cumberland  and  York  counties ;  711  Walnut 
street,  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  H.  MARTYN  CHANCE,  geologist,  in  Clearfield  county;  2423  Fairmouut 
Avenue,  Philadelphia. 

Professor  E.  W.  CLAYPOLE,  geologist,  in  Perry  and  Juniata  counties ;  address 
in  future,  Akron,  O. 

Mr.  J.  SUTTON  WALL,  M.  E.,  Monongahela  city,  Pa. 

Mr.  A.  S.  McCRKATH,  chemist ;  223  Market  street,  Harrisburg. 

Mr.  LEO  LESQUEREUX,  fossil  botanist;  Columbus,  Ohio. 

Mr.  E.  B.  HARDEN,  topographer,  in  charge  of  illustrations  for  reports,  and 
general  correspondence  at  head-quarters;  905  Walnut  street,  Philadelphia. 

Anthracite  Survey. 

Mr.  CHAS.  A.  ASHBURNER,  geologist,  in  charge  of  the  Survey  of  the  An- 
thracite coal  fields;  headquarters,  address  907  Walnut  street,  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  CHARLES  B.  SCOTT,  assistant  and  secretary,  Philadelphia  office. 

Mr.  O.  B.  HARDEN,  topographer  and  artist,  Philadelphia  office. 

Mr.  FRANK  A.  HILL,  assistant  geologist,  in  the  Northern  Coal  Field:  Scrauton, 
Pa. 

Mr.  JOHN  C.  BRANNER,  topographer,  in  the  Northern  Coal  Field ;  Scranton, 
Pa. 

Mr.  T.  J.  WILLIAMS,  assistant,  in  the  Northern  Coal  Field ;  Scranton,  Pa. 

Mr.  A.  D.  W.  SMITH,  aid,  in  the  Northern  Coal  Field ;  Scranton  Pa. 

Mr.  ARTHUR  WINSLOW,  assistant  geologist,  in  the  Eastern  Middle  Coal  Field  ; 
Philadelphia  office. 

Mr.  WILLIAM  GRIFFITH,  assistant,  in  the  Eastern  Middle  Coal  Field;  Pitts- 
ton,  Pa. 

Mr.  BARD  WELLS,  assistant  geologist,  in  the  Western  Middle  Coal  Field  ; 
Pottsville,  Pa. 

Mr.  H.  N.  SIMS,  assistant,  in  the  Western  Middle  Coal  Field ;  Pottsville,  Pa. 

Mr.  BAIRD  HALBERSTADT,  aid,  in  Western  Middle  Coal  Field  ;  Pottsville,  Pa. 


LETTER  OF  TEA^SMITTAL. 


To  His  Excellency,   GOVERNOR  ROBERT  E.  PATTISON,  ex- 
officio  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the 
Second  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania  : 
SIR  :     I  have  the  honor  to  submit  to  the  Board,  for  pub- 
lication, a  carefully  written  and  as  I  think  accurate  report 
on  the  geology  of  Centre  county,  by  Mr.  E.  Y.  d'Invilliers, 
whose  excellent  topographical  and  geological  work  in  Berks 
county  was  published  last  year  (see  D.  3,  Yol.  2,  part  1.) 

The  preparation  of  a  report  on  Centre  county  was  under- 
ta,ken  early  in  the  history  of  the  Survey,  but  was  again  and 
again  interrupted  by  events  incident  to  all  such  under- 
takings, where  the  geological  facts  are  of  a  difficult  kind, 
and  mineral ogical  interests  are  of  unusual  importance. 

The  coal  measures  of  Centre  county  have  been  carefully 
examined  and  described  by  Mr.  d'Invilliers,  and  references 
made  to  the  work  done  in  Clearfield  county  by  Mr.  F. 
Platt  in  1874,  and  by  Dr.  Chance  in  1873,  and  published  in 
Reports  H  and  H7. 

The  iron  ore  mines  of  Centre  county  have  been  visited  and 
described  at  four  different  times  by  Mr.  F.  Platt,  by  Mr.  A. 
S.  McCreath,  by  Mr.  W.  G.  Platt,  and  by  Mr.  d'Invilliers, 
as  well  as  by  myself,  by  the  late  Mr.  J..  W.  Harden,  and  by 
Prof.  A.  L.  Ewing,  of  the  State  Agricultural  College. 

The  facts  thus  obtained  have  been  used  by  Mr.  <T  Invil- 
liers  in  this  report. 

In  Appendix  A  will  be  found  my  own  notes  and  sketches, 
Dr.  Genth's  analyses,  and  Mr.  Harden' s  observations. 
In  Appendix  B  will  be  found  Prof.  Ewing' s  report. 

(v  T*.) 


vi  T.          REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'INVILLIERS. 

An  Index  of  personal  and  place-names  and  of  notable 
geological  facts  and  fossils  is  appended.  The  pressure  of 
duties  connected  with  the  publication  of  current  reports  has 
prevented  me  from  preparing  a  special  geological  index. 

The  large  colored  county  map  has  been  constructed  by  Mr. 
d'Invilliers,  with  his  usual  patient  attention  to  details,  out 
of  the  best  materials  at  command,  some  of  which  in  the 
western  townships  are  new.  A  portion  of  Clinton  county 
has  been  added  to  the  map  to  show  the  geological  structure 
of  the  Nittany  valley  region.  The  district  bordering  on 
Mifflin  and  Union  counties  has  been  colored  in  accordance 
with  the  still  unpublished  survey  of  the  Seven  Mountains, 
by  Mr.  Billin. 

In  this  map  for  the  first  time  three  tints  have  been  em- 
ployed to  distinguish  the  three  sub-divisions  of  No.  IV, 
(Upper,  Middle,  and  Lower,)  the  Medina  white,  the  Medina 
red,  and  the  Oneida  gray  sandstones.  This  was  needful  for 
bringing  out  the  peculiar  topography  of  the  Centre  county 
Silurian  mountains. 

The  small  map  printed  on  page  352,  containing  the  Penn- 
sylvania, Love  town,  and  some  other  ore  banks,  is  part  of  my 
map  of  1873-' 4,  the  whole  of  which  will  be  given  in  the 
forthcoming  report  on  Huntingdon  county  (T  ,)  together 
with  Mr.  E.  B.  Hardens  beautiful  contour-line  map  of  the 
Bald  Eagle  mountain  and  Logan's  Run  valley,  along  the 
Little  Juniata  from  Tyrone  to  Birmingham. 

The  six  transverse  sections  of  Mttany  valley  given  by 
Mr.  d'Invilliers  on  pages  28,  34,  and  48,  show  the  anticlinal 
structure  of  the  central  ridge,  or  Barrens,  with  the  pro- 
nounced tendency  towards  vertical  (or  overthrown)  north- 
west dips  on  the  Bald  Eagle  Mountain  side.  Much  addi- 
tional information  respecting  the  faulted  condition  of  that 
side  of  the  fold  is  desirable.  Prof.  Ewing's  notes  of  the 
outcrops  around  Scotia  bear  upon  this  point ;  and  the  data 
to  be  published  in  the  Huntingdon  county  report  will  in- 
clude an  interesting  exhibition  of  three  cross-faults  which 
throw  the  mountain  to  an  extent  equal  to  its  width. 

Prof.  Ewing  makes  an  important  addition  to  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  outcrop  of  the  Oriskany  sandstone  No.  VII 


LETTER  OF  TKANSMITTAL.  T4.  vil 

along  the  Bald  Eagle  valley.  He  describes,  on  page  430, 
a  projection  of  this  outcrop  above  the  surface  at  a  point  sev- 
eral miles  further  south-west  than  any  observed  by  Mr. 
d' Invilliers.  It  illustrates  the  excessively  irregular  char- 
acter of  this  curious  formation — one  especially  interesting 
to  business  men  for  furnishing  the  best  deposits  of  glass- 
sand,  and  to  systematic  geologists  as  the  accepted  horizon 
of  separation  between  the  Devonian  and  Silurian  systems  ; 
an  arrangement  too  convenient  for  many  reasons  to  be  aban- 
doned, however  strange  and  even  improbable  it  may  seem 
that  a  radical  change  in  the  order  of  creation  should  have 
occurred  without  leaving  a  more  visible  trace  than  merely 
a  thin  archipelagic  sand-bank  deposit  like  the  Oriskany. 
We  can  only  conjecture  that  movements  took  place  in  dis- 
tant regions  of  the  globe  great  enough  to  change  the  condi- 
tion of  oceanic  sediments  everywhere,  and  thereby  to  change 
the  living  population  of  the  world's  waters. 

Professor  E wing's  graphic  description  of  the  iron  ore  de- 
posit on  Sinking  creek  in  Potter  township  (page  418)  will 
arrest  the  attention  of  mineralogists.  I  cannot  but  regard 
it  as  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  probable  correctness  of 
the  explanation  which  I  ventured  to  suggest  in  1879,  on 
page  xvii  of  the  preface  to  Report  QQ.  An  unlocked  for 
addition  to  the  argument  there  presented  is  made  by  the 
accident  of  finding  one  pipe  of  ore  embedded  at  an  angle  to 
all  the  others.  As  I  regard  the  ordinary  pipe  ore  as  con- 
verted stalagmite,  I  must  regard  this  exceptional  pipe  of 
ore  as  a  fallen  stalactite  similarly  converted. 

J.  P.  LESLEY. 
Philadelphia,  1008  Clinton  Street. 

June  12,  1884. 


LETTER  OF  Mr.  E.  Y.  D'INYILLIERS. 


PROF.  J.  P.  LESLEY,  State  Geologist: 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  to  you  my  report 
on  Centre  county,  together  with  a  map  of  the  whole  county, 
geologically  colored  to  show  the  areas  of  the  Palaeozoic  rocks 
within  its  border  lines. 

Centre  is  the  largest  county  in  the  State,  containing  more 
than  1200  square  miles  of  surface;  and  its  series  of  rock  for- 
mations extend  downwards  from  No.  XIII,  the  Lower  Pro- 
ductive coal  measures,  through  the  Sub-carboniferous,  De- 
vonian, and  Silurian  systems,  nearly  to  the  bottom  of  the 
great  Magnesian  limestone  formation  No.  II.  As  I  was  al- 
lowed only  six  months  (from  July  to  December,  1883)  for 
field  work,  my  report  will  show  that  it  had  to  be  principally 
expended  upon  districts  known  to  be  of  prime  importance 
in  respect  to  their  mineral  value. 

The  township  maps  at  my  command  were,  as  usual,  very 
defective.  Some  of  the  errors  were  corrected,  and  some  new 
features  added:  but  many  inaccuracies  undoubtedly  remain, 
especially  in  the  mountain  townships. 

In  prosecuting  my  survey  I  met  with  the  heartiest  co- 
operation from  the  citizens  of  the  county  everywhere,  and  I 
owe  it  to  their  assistance  that  my  report  is  as  complete  as  it 
is.  I  wish  to  thus  publicly  tender  my  thanks  to  all,  and 
especially  to  Messrs.  Robert.  George,  and  Abraham  Valen- 
tine, the  Hon.  A.  Gr.  Curtin,  A.  GK  Curtin,  Jr.,  Mr.  Andrew 
Brockerhoff,  Mr.  John  D.  Shugert,  Mr.  C.  T.  Alexander, 
Mr.  James  L.  Somerville,  Mr.  A.  H.  Bell,  Mr.  GK  W.  Jack- 

(ix  T*.) 


X  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

son,  Mr.  D.  G.  Bush,  and  Dr.  Fairlamb,  of  Bellefonte ;  to 
Mr.  Frank  McCoy,  of  the  Milesburg  Iron  Works  ;  to  Mr. 
James  Pierpont,  of  the  Janiata  Mining  Company ;  to  Mr. 
Cameron  Burnside,  of  Howard;  Col.  G.  H.  Platt,  and  Mr. 
Mark  Hopkins,  of  Peale  ;  Messrs.  Frank  Wilcox,  and  W. 
J.  Jackson,  of  Powelton ;  Mr.  J.  H.  Holt,  and  Dr.  M.  S, 
Stewart,  of  Moshannon;  Mr.  John  T.  Thompson,  of  Lemont; 
Col.  James  P.  Coburn,  of  Aaronsburg ;  Hon.  J.  Devens,  of 
Hublersburg  ;  Messrs.  Philip  Collins,  and  W.  G.  Platt,  of 
Philadelphia;  Messrs.  Peter  Cameron,  and  Robert  Ramsey, 
of  Snow  Shoe;  Messrs.  Theodore  and  George  Boak,  of  Pine 
Glen  ;  Messrs.  S.  S.  Blair,  and  W.  Reed,  of  Tyrone  ;  and 
Mr.  C.  S.  d'lnvilliers,  of  Philipsburg. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully  yours, 

E.  V.  D' INVILLIERS, 
Philadelphia^  711  Walnut  street. 
June  1,  1884. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Page. 

CHAPTER  I.     Geographical     description    of    Centre 

county  ;  county  lines  ;  townships, 1 

CHAPTER  II.  Towns  ;  streams  ;  railroads,  and  levels 

above  tide  water, 5 

CHAPTER  III.    Topographical   description  of   Centre 

county;  mountains,  &c., 23 

CHAPTER  IV.    Geological  structure  ;  anticlinals  and 

synclinals,      29 

Nittany  Valley  anticlinal, 30 

Gatesburg  Ridge  anticlinal, 33 

Tadpole  or  Sandy  Ridge  anticlinal, 33 

Madison  Gap  section, 35 

Howard  and  Jacksonville  section,      36 

Hecla  Furnace  section, 37 

Bellefonte  section, 39 

Fillmore-Boalsburg  section,      40 

West  county  line  section, 41 

Brush  Valley  anticlinal, 42 

Penn's  Valley  anticlinal, 43 

Penn'  s  Narrows  anticlinal, 44 

Confer  or  Decker's  Valley  anticlinal, 45 

Poe  Valley  anticlinal, 45 

Pleasant  or  Little  Sugar  valley, 48 

Brush  Mountain  synclinal 48 

Seven  mountains  ;  Tussey  mountains, 51 

CHAPTER  V.     The  coal  measures  of  the  north-west- 
ern part  of  Centre  county  described,  51 

The  Barren  measures, 57 

The  Lower  Productive  measures, 59 

(xl  T*.) 


Xii  T.       REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Page. 

Snow  Shoe  coal  basin, ...  63 

Coal  bed  E, 65 

Coal  bed  D, 67 

Coal  bed  C', 69 

Freeport  lower  limestone, .  74 

Coal  bed  B, 75 

North  side  of  the  basin, .  77 

Coal  bed  B  in  Holt's  hill,  80 

Coal  on  Stewart  &  Long  lands, 83 

West  of  Karthaus  pike, 84 

Moshannon  village  mines, 85 

Clearfield  Bit,  C.  Co.'s  mines, 85 

Along  the  railroad, 86 

Coal  bed  B, 87 

At  the  Moshannon  tunnel, 89 

Beech  creek  basin, 91 

Coal  beds  south  of  Beech  creek, 92 

Coal  Hill  measures,  .  .  .  . 93 

North  of  Beech  creek, 94 

Cato  coal  field, , 96. 

Coals  north  of  Beech  creek, 98 

The  Tullinger  lands, 99 

Little  Sandy  Creek  coals, 100 

Iron  ores, 102 

Philipsburg-Osceola  district, 104 

BedBatPowelton, 105 

Bed  B  at  Phoenix  mine, 108 

Around  Philipsburg,  109 

Around  Osceola, Ill 

Buck  ridge, 112 

Powelton  lire-clay  bank, 118 

Second  basin, 121 

Sub-carboniferous  coals, ...  121 

Coal  measures, 123 

Buttermilk  lands  ;  section, 123 

Stirling  section, 126 

Along  the  Karthaus  pike, 128 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.                              T.  xiii 

Page. 

CHAPTER  VI.     The  brown-hematite  ores  of  Nittany 

and  Penn's  valleys, 133 

A.  Belief onte-Nittany  group, 139 

1.  Fishing  creek  bank, 139 

2.  Jackson  bank, 143 

3.  Red  bank, 145 

4.  Hoy  bank,      147 

5.  Kaufman  (Dysart)  bank, 147 

6.  Hamilton  bank, 147 

7.  Gatesburg  bank, 149 

8.  Taylor  bank,      151 

9.  Nigh  bank, 154 

Ann  Patton  tract, 157 

10.  Logan  bank,      158 

11.  Lindsay  Coates  tract,      159 

CHAPTER  VII.      The  brown-hematite  ores  of  Nittany 

and  Penn's  valleys  continued, 163 

B.  Jacksonville  valley  group, 163 

12.  Zimmerman  bank, 163 

13.  Darrahbank, 164 

14.  McCalmont  bank, 165 

15.  Butler  bank,      165 

16.  Hoy  &  Smith  bank,      166 

Smith  bank •••...  167 

17.  Beck  bank, 167 

18.  Washington  Furnace  bank,      168 

CHAPTER  VIII.     The  brown-hematite  ores  of  Nit- 
tany and  Penn's  valleys,  continued,  171 

C.  Hublersburg  valley  group, 171 

19.  Field  bank, 171 

20.  McKinney  bank, 172 

21.  Quinn  bank, 173 

22.  Red  bank,      174 

23.  Hecla  bank, 174 

24.  Howard  bank 178 

25.  Vonedabank, 179 

26.  Schwartz  bank, 180 

27.  Candy  farm, 181 


xiv  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Page. 

28.  Beck  (H.)  farm, 181 

29.  Huston  bank,  No.  1, 181 

30.  Snavely  bank, 182 

31.  Barlow  &  Day' s  mine, 182 

32.  Huston  bank,  No.  2, 184 

CHAPTER  IX.  The  brown  hematite  ores  of  Nittany 

and  Penn' s  valleys,  continued, 187 

D.  Buffalo  Run  Group, 187 

33.  Lutz  farm, 187 

34.  Brockerhoff,  Blair,  Wagner  farms, 187 

35.  Alexander  and  Reynolds  farms, 187 

36.  Clark's  farm, 187 

37.  Hunter's  mine, 188 

38.  Township  line  road, 189 

39.  Crust  bank, 189 

40.  Crust,  Musser,  Reaser,  Pennington,    ....  189 
The  Barrens  of  Centre  county, 190 

41.  Fair  farm, 191 

42.  Zone's  farm, 191 

43.  Alto  farm, 191 

44.  Crust  farm, 191 

45.  Markle  bank, 192 

46.  Pond  bank, 192 

47.  Newell  bank, 195 

48.  Lambourn  bank, 196 

49.  Gray  bank, 198 

50.  Tar  Hollow  bank, 198 

51.  Desert  bank,      199 

Celtic  Company, 199 

52.  Hard  bank, ....  201 

53.  Love  bank, 202 

CHAPTER  X.    The  brown  hematite  ores  of  Nittany 

and  Brush  valleys,  continued, 207 

E,  Barrens  Group, 207 

54.  Juniata  M.  Co.  bank, 208 

55.  Railroad  terminus  incline, 209 

56.  Floyd  pit, ...  209 

57.  Pond  bank, 212 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.  T4.  XV 

Page. 

58.  Red  bank, 213 

59.  California  bank, 214 

60.  Hannah  bank, 214 

61.  Bull  and  Hartsock  banks, 214 

62.  Scotia  bank, ,218 

63.  Irwin  cut, 220 

64.  Gray's  farm, 221 

65.  Red  bank, 222 

66.  Ackley  bank, 223 

67.  Carnegie  Bros.  &  Co., 224 

68.  Lytle  bank, 224 

69.  Scott  bank, 225 

70.  Whorellbank, 226 

71.  McAllister,  &c.,  farms, 227 

CHAPTER  XL  The  brown  hematite  ores  of  Nittany 

and  Brush  valleys,  continued, 229 

F.  Pennsylvania  furnace  and  CoUe(/e  groups,    .    .  229 

72.  Pennsylvania  bank, 229 

Kechline's  lower  farm, 236 

Campbell's  and  Atlee's  farms, 236 

John  Bailey's,      236 

73.  Kustanbauter's 236 

74.  Kechline's  fields,      236 

75.  Miller's  farm, 237 

76.  Harper's  farm.      237 

77.  M.  Weaver's  farm, 237 

78.  H.  Snyder's  farm, 238 

79.  Johnson  bank,      238 

80.  Streuble  bank, 240 

81.  Blair  and  Cooper  banks 243 

82.  Puddington  bank, 244 

83.  Big  Hollow  bank, 245 

84.  North-east  of  Pinegrove,  L.  Kreps, 246 

85.  Mitchell's,  Bailey's,  Ard's  fields, 246 

86.  Ross  bank, 246 

87.  Stover  bank,      246 

CHAPTER  XII.     The  brown  hematite  ores   of  Nit- 
tany, Brush,  and  Penn'  s  valleys,  continued, 249 


XVi  T4.       REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Page. 

G.  Penn*  s  valley  group, 249 

88.  Ross  bank, 249 

89.  Watson  bank, .    .  251 

90.  Emerick  bank, 253 

91.  Rankle  (L  P.)  trial  shaft, 253 

92.  Sinking  Creek  mine,  (Wagner  bank,)    ....  254 
CHAPTER  XIII.  The  iron  industries  of  Centre  county,  257 
CHAPTER  XIV.  A  description  of  the  geology  of  each 

township  in  order, 265 

1.  Rush, ' 265 

2.  Snow  Shoe,  ...        266 

3.  Burnside,      266 

4.  Curtin, 267 

5.  Taylor, 269 

6.  Worth,      271 

7.  Huston, 273 

8.  Union, 275 

9-  Boggs, 278 

10.  Howard, 290 

11.  Liberty, 295 

12.  Half  Moon,      304 

13.  Patton,      305 

14.  Benner,      .    .    .    .   ^ 307 

15.  Spring,      311 

16.  Marion, 316 

17.  Walker, 316 

18.  Ferguson, 323 

19.  Harris,       325 

20.  College, 325 

21.  Potter,       329 

22.  Gregg, 333 

23.  Penn, 339 

24.  Miles, 344 

25.  Haines,      347 

APPENDIX  A.      Extracts  from  a  report  to  Lyon, 

Shorb  &  Co.,  by  J.  P.  Lesley,  in  1873,  '4, 353 

10.  Lovetown  banks, 356 

11.  Lytle's  bank, ...  358 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.                              T4.  xvll 

Page. 

McKinney's  bank,       359 

Curtin  bank, t 359 

13.  Hannah  Furnace  bank, .  360 

14.  Bull  banks, 361 

15.  Pond  bank,  No.  1, 361 

16.  Red  bank, 362 

Old  Gatesburg  bank, 362 

17.  California  bank, 363 

18.  Reider'sbank, 364 

19.  Whorell  bank, 365 

27.  Kerr  &  Bredon  bank, 366 

20.  Hostler  bank, 366 

Red  bank,      370 

Little  bank. 370 

Eyer  bank, 370 

29.  Pennsylvania  bank, 371 

Analyses,  by  Dr.  F.  A.  Genth, 384 

Iron  ores  and  sand  rock, 385 

Limestone, 391 

Analyses,  by  Dr.  Otto  Wuth, 394 

Mining  Methods,  by  J.  W.  Harden, 395 

APPENDIX  B.  Observations  on  the  Geological  For- 
mations of  Centre  County,  by  A.  L.  Ewing,  Prof.  Zool. 
and  Oeol.  in  the  State  Agricultural  College. 

Formation  No.  II  limestones  of  Nittany  valley,    .  401 

Nittany  Valley  anticlinal, 403 

The  Barrens,  range  and  rocks, 404 

Iron  ores  and  their  origin, 406 

Scotia  and  vicinity, 410 

Bellefonte  and  vicinity, 411 

Pennsylvania  furnace  and  Gatesburg  ridge,    .       .  413 

Brush  Valley  anticlinal, 414 

Pennsylvania  furnace  ore  range, 415 

Upper  strata  of  No.  II,  Trenton, 417 

Cavern  deposit  of  iron  ore, 418 

Erosion  by  solution, 420 

Cave  in  Gregg  township, 421 


XViiiT*.    REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       K.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

Page. 

Big  Hollow  an  ancient  water- way,      .......  422 

Fossils  of  No.  II, ". 423 

Formation  No.  Ill,  slates — fossils, 424 

Formation  No.  IV,  sandstone, 427 

Formation  No.  Y,  shales — fossils, 429 

Formation  No.  VI,  limestone — fossils, 429 

Formation  No.  VII,  sandstone— fossils, 430 

Upper  Helderberg,  VIII  a,— fossils, 432 

Hamilton,  VIII  b— fossils, 432 

Chemung,  VIII  c— fossils, 433 

INDEX,                                                                            .  435 


List  of  Illustrations. 

Centre  county  colored  geological  map  in  pocket. 

Plate  1.  Nittany  anticlinal,  Figs.  1,  2,  page       ...  4 

"      2.  Henderson  section,  Boalsburg, 22 

"      3.  Cross  sections  Nos.  1,  2, 28 

"4.         "          "           "    3,  4,      34 

"      5.         "          "           •'    6,  6, 38 

"      6.  Map  of  Peale  &  Tunnel  mines ,54 

"      7.  Vertical  sections  of  coal  beds, 58 

"8.            "            "              "               60 

"9.             "             "               "                61 

"     10.  Local  map  of  Belief onte  gap, 280 

"    11.  Limestone  quarry  sections,  Figs.  I,  2,     .    .  296 

i;    12.  Fault  in  No.  VIII, 300 

"    13.  Big  Fishing  creek  gap.  Figs.  1,2,     ....  320 

"     14.  Local  map  of  western  Centre  county,  .    .    .  355 
"     15.  Local  roll  caused  by  solution  ;  and  cross 

section.                                                          .  402 


CENTRE  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Geographical  Description. 

Centre  County  is  appropriately  so  called,  for  it  occupies 
the  centre  of  the  State,  surrounded  by  Clearfield  on  the 
north-west ;  Clinton,  Union,  and  Snyder  on  the  north-east 
and  east,  Huntingdon  on  the  south,  and  Blair  on  the  south- 
west. 

It  was  set  off  in  1800  from  Mifflin  and  Lycoming  coun- 
ties, with  the  following  boundary  lines: 

*  "Beginning  opposite  the  mouth  of  Qninn's  run,  on  the 
West  Branch  of  the  Susquehanna  ;  thence  a  straight  line  to 
the  mouth  of  Fishing  Creek  ;  thence  to  the  north-east  corner 
of  Miles  township,  including  Nittany  valley  ;  thence  by  the 
north-eastern  boundaries  of  said  township  to  the  summit  of 
Tussey's  mountain  ;  thence  by  the  summit  of  said  mount- 
ain, by  the  lines  of  Haines  township  in  Northumberland, 
Potter  township  in  Mifflin,  and  Franklin  township  in  Hunt- 
ingdon county,  to  a  point  three  miles  south-west  of  the 
present  line  between  Mifflin  and  Huntingdon  counties  ; 
thence  by  a  direct  line  to  the  head  of  the  south-west  branch 
of  Bald  Eagle  creek  ;  thence  a  direct  line  to  the  headwaters 
of  the  Moshannon  ;  thence  down  the  same  to  the  Susque- 
hanna to  the  place  of  beginning." 

Several  modifications  in  boundary  lines  have  taken  place 
since  1800. 

•History  of  Centre  and  Clinton  counties  by  J.  B.  Linn,  1883,  page  34. 
(1  TA) 


2  T4.          REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'  INVILLIERS. 

The  western  and  north-western  boundaries,  being  the  Mo- 
shannon  creek  and  the  river  down  to  the  mouth  of  Jews, 
run,  need  no  remark. 

But  the  various  changes  brought  about  by  the  successive 
partitions  of  the  original  Northumberland  county  from 
1772  have  modified  its  north,  east,  and  south  lines  consid- 
erably. 

Thus  in  1839,  the  townships  of  Bald  Eagle,  Lamar,  and 
Logan  were  transferred  to  Clinton  county,  while  the  previ- 
ous creation  of  Huntingdon,  Mifflin,  Lycoming,  and  Union 
counties  had  its  effect  in  further  changing  the  outline  of 
Centre  county. 

The  eastern  boundary,  between  Centre  and  Union  and 
Mifflin  counties,  was  not  definitely  fixed  until  the  survey  of 
1871,  and  is  now  eighteen  miles  and  forty  perches  long.  The 
Huntingdon  county  line  was  determined  in  1801,  and  that 
of  Blair  county  in  1848,  both  of  which  were  finally  fixed  by 
surveys  of  1876. 

Centre  county  has  an  irregular  lozenge  shape  with  its 
longest  ends  pointing  N.  E.  and  S.  W.  Its  area,  according 
to  H.  Gannett,  Top.  tenth  census,  is  1,230  square  miles,  thus 
showing  it  to  be  the  largest  county  in  the  State.  It  is  di- 
vided nearly  in  half  by  the  Bald  Eagle  valley,  which  forms 
a  marked  topographical  feature  between  the  Bald  Eagle 
mountain  and  the  great  Allegheny  mountain  plateau. 

Twenty-Jive  townships  sub-divide  the  county  and  are 
arranged  somewhat  as  follows  : 

Burnside. 

Curtin. 

Rush.  Snow  Shoe.  Liberty. 

Taylor.  Worth.  Huston.  Union.  Boggs.  Howard. 

Marion. 
Half  Moon.   Patton.   Benner.  Spring. 

Walker. 

College.  Miles. 

Ferguson.  Potter.         Gregg.          Haines. 

Harris.  Penii. 

Eleven  townships  lie  north,  and  fourteen  south  of  the 
Bald  Eagle  mountain,  which  divides  the  county  in  a  line 
about  N.  56°  E.,  and  S.  56°  W. 

Burnside,  Rush,  Snow  Shoe  and  Curtin  are  essentially 


GEOGRAPHICAL    DESCRIPTION.  T4.  3 

mountain  townships,  and  within  them  is  to  be  found  all 
the  coal  occurring  in  the  county. 

Taylor,  Worth,  Huston,  Union,  Boggs,  Howard,  and 
Liberty  form  the  Bald  Eagle  valley  and  the  rounded  slate 
and  sandstone  ridges  south  of  the  Allegheny  escarpment. 

Their  southern  border  lines  mark  the  crest  of  the  Bald 
Engle  mountain. 

Half  Moon,  Patton,  Benner,  Spring,  Marion,  and  Walker 
occupy  a  similar  position  on  the  south  side  of  this  prom- 
inent dividing  rid^e,  and  make  up  portions  of  the  Nittany 
limestone  valley  and  the  whole  of  the  slate  belt  stretching 
along  the  south  base  of  the  mountains  from  Huntingdon  to 
Clinton  county. 

Benner,  Spring,  and  Walker  townships  have  for  their 
south  boundary  lines  the  crest  of  Nittany  mountain,  an- 
other marked  topographical  feature,  extending  from  the 
Clinton  county  line  as  far  west  as  Lemont,  in  College  town- 
ship. 

College,  Ferguson,  and  Harris  townships  comprise  the 
limestone  area  of  the  combined  Nittany  and  Penn's  valleys, 
the  two  latter  riding  up  on  the  crests  of  the  Tussey  moun- 
tain on  the  south. 

Potter,  Gregg,  Miles,  Penn,  and  Haines  (5  in  all)  consti- 
tute the  region  of  Brush  and  Penn's  valleys  and  snch  por- 
tions of  fhe  Seven  mountains  as  are  within  the  county. 


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CHAPTER  II. 
Towns  ;  Streams  ;  Railroad  levels. 

The  first  settlement  within  the  present  boundary  of 
Centre  county  seems  to  have  been  on  Bald  Eagle  creek,  not 
far  from  the  mouth  of  Spring  creek,  near  the  present  site 
of  Milesburg.* 

This  was  before  the  organization  of  the  county. 

In  the  year  of  incorporation,  1800,  Centre  county  had  a 
population  of  4112,  which  increased  in  30  years  to  19,028. 

In  the  year  1839  Clinton  county  was  created,  which  of 
course,  robbed  Centre  of  a  portion  of  its  population,  so 
that  the  census  of  1840  shows  a  total  of  only  20,492. 

The  increase  in  the  next  decade  was  slight,  as  in  1850  the 
population  numbered  but  23,355.  In  1860  it  was  27,000; 
in  1870,  34,418,  while  the  returns  of  the  10th  census,  in 
1880.  give  a  total  of  37,921. 

The  first  post-office  in  the  county  was  established  at 
Milesburg  in  1797.  Belief  on  te  Forge  (now  Valentines  & 
Co.)  was  erected  in  1798. 

Belief  'onte,  the  county  seat,  was  laid  out  in  1795,  and 
was  so  named  from  the  beautiful  spring  within  its  limits 
which  is  the  present  source  of  its  water  supply.  It  was 
made  a  borough  in  1806,  two  years  after  which  the  water- 
works came  into  existence  in  a  rude  form — the  water  being 
conveyed  through  the  town  by  means  of  wooden  troughs. 
At  present,  the  water  is  forced  up  to  the  reservoirs  on  the 
hill,  to  an  altitude  of  196  feet,  through  a  six-inch  iron  pipe 
1900  feet  long.  The  reservoirs  have  a  capacity  of  300,000 
gallons.  The  estimated  discharge  of  the  spring  per  minute 

*Linn's  History  of  Centre  County,  p.  12. 
(5  T*.) 


6  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

is  14,600  gallons,  so  that  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the 
supply  of  this  large  pool. 

Other  places  of  size  and  importance  in  the  county  are 
Philipsburg,  Snow  Shoe,  Unionville,  Milesburg,  Howard, 
Eagleville,  Spring  Mills,  Millheim,  Aaronsburg,  arid  Boals- 
burg. 

The  industries  most  nearly  affecting  the  people  are  those 
of  coal  and  iron  mining,  farming,  saw  and  grist-mills,  and 
to  within  a  comparatively  recent  period,  lumbering. 

The  chief  of  these  is,  of  course,  agriculture,  considering 
the  amount  of  capital  involved. 

Streams. 

With  but  few  exceptions  the  entire  drainage  of  the 
county  is  eastward  into  the  Susquehanna  river  at  Lock 
Haven. 

The  five  townships  of  Potter,  Gregg,  Miles,  Penn.  and 
Haines  are  chiefly  drained  by  tributaries  of  Penn's  creek, 
which  flows  south-east  into  the  Susquehanna  near  Selins- 
grove  south  of  Sunbury,  in  Snyder  county. 

Taylor,  Half  Moon,  and  Ferguson  are  drained  south  into 
the  valley  of  the  Juniata,  the  former  by  branches  of  Little 
Bald  Eagle  creek,  into  the  river  at  Tj7rone  ;  the  two  latter 
by  the  Half  Moon  and  Beaver  run  branches  of  Spruce  creek 
into  the  Juniata  at  Spruce  creek,  in  Huntingdon  county. 

The  Moshannon  creek,  dividing  Centre  and  Clearfield 
counties  along  three  fourths  of  its  western  border,  is  the 
principal  feature  of  the  map.  Its  general  course  from  the 
Blair- Cambria- Clearfield  corner  to  the  West  Branch  of  the 
Susquehanna  south  of  Karthaus  Landing  is  about  N.  30° 
E.  and  30  miles  long  in  an  air  line.  But  its  almost  endless 
windings  and  deviations  through  the  First  Coal  Basin  at 
Osceola  and  Philipsburg  and  the  conglomerate  hills  bor- 
dering the  Rush-Snow  Shoe  lines,  considerably  modifies  this 
statement  both  as  to  course  and  distance. 

Its  meanders  however,  have  been  carefully  reduced  from 
topographical  maps  of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  from  orig- 
inal railroad  surveys  of  Messrs.  Paul  White  and  C.'S. 
d'Invilliers,  so  that  an  accurate  representation  of  this  great 


STREAMS.  T4.  7 

stream  is,  for  the  first  time  I  believe,  laid  down  upon  the 
map  accompanying  this  report. 

Its  principal  tributaries  in  this  county  are  the  Mountain 
Branch,  Trout  Run,  Cold  Stream,  Six  Mile  run,  Black  Bear 
run,  and  the  Little  or  Black  Moshannon,  all  having  their 
rise  in  the  Allegheny  mountains  in  Rush  township,  and 
•flowing  northwards. 

The  Black  Moshannon  alone  leaves  the  township,  mak- 
ing a  wide  detour  into  Snow  Shoe  towards  the  village  of 
Moshannon  and  emptying  into  the  main  stream  at  the  Iron 
Bridge  crossing  of  the  Philipsburg  and  Snow  Shoe  road. 

Additional  streams  in  Burnside  township  are  the  Seven 
Mile  run,  Miles  and  Pine  runs,  Sterling  run,  Spruce  run, 
Bougher  run,  Moore's  run,  Field's  run,  Yost's  run,  Burn's 
run,  and  Jews'  run,  all  of  which,  except  Seven  Mile  run, 
drain  directly  into  the  West  Branch  of  the  Susquehanna, 
which  forms  the  remaining  part  of  the  county's  western 
border. 

Seven  Mile  run,  with  its  several  branches,  drains  a  part 
of  the  north  side  of  the  Snow  Shoe  coal  basin.  The  other 
streams  just  enumerated  all  have  their  rise  in  the  high  bar- 
ren country,  accented  by  the  anticlinal  axis  dividing  the 
Snow  Shoe  coal  basin  from  that  at  Karthaus,  which  axis  is 
identical  with  the  Hyner  anticlinal  of  Clinton  county  and 
the  First  or  Laurel  Hill  axis  of  Clearfield  county,  divid- 
ing the  first  and  second  coal  basins. 

Beech  creek  drains  the  rest  of  the  Allegheny  coal  field  in 
Centre  county  and  both  from  the  number  of  its  branches 
and  the  vast  amount  of  territory  it  waters,  it  is  scarcely 
second  in  importance  to  the  Moshannon. 

Heading  in  the  Allegheny  mountains  south  of  Snow  Shoe 
Tillage,  it  fiows  north-east  to  the  Snow  Shoe-Curtin  line, 
and  then  south-east  to  its  confluence  with  the  Bald  Eagle 
creek  at  Beech  Creek  village,  forming  the  divide  between 
Centre  and  Clinton  county  for  the  last  8  or  10  miles  of  its 
course. 

About  5  miles  east  of  Snow  Shoe,  Beech  creek  divides 
into  north  and  south  forks. 

The  former,  heading  well  up  into  Snow  Shoe  township. 


8  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

drains  the  coal  basin  north  and  south  through  Pine  runT 
Cherry  run,  and  Little  Sandy. 

The  south  fork,  rising  west  of  the  Snow  Shoe  summit  of 
the  Allegheny  mountains,  drains  a  rocky  and  barren  coun- 
try, and  practically  limits  the  southern  extension  of  the 
Snow  Shoe  coal  basin  as  far  as  its  intersection  with  the  main 
stream  south  of  Cato. 

Increased  considerably  in  size,  Beech  creek  further  re- 
ceives from  the  highlands  of  the  Pine  Grlen-Hyner  Axis  on 
the  north,  the  waters  of  Big  Sandy  and  its  tributary  Beauty 
run,  Wolf  run,  Panther  run,  Eddy  Lick,  Two  Rock  and 
Three  Rock  runs,  and  just  outside  the  county  the  waters  of 
Big  run,  which  takes  its  rise  in  upper  Curtin. 

From  the  south  Beech  creek  receives  Logway  run,  a 
small  stream  which  heads  up  in  the  little  Cato  coal  field  ;. 
Counsel  run,  which  again  limits  the  Beech  creek  coal  basin 
on  the  south ;  and  finally  Hayes  run,  which,  with  its  nu- 
merous offshoots,  drains  all  that  portion  of  the  Allegheny 
plateau  in  Curtin  township. 

The  wilderness  through  which  this  stream  formerly  found 
its  passage  is  being  gradually  changed  by  the  rapid  progress 
of  the  Beech  Creek,  Clearfield  and  South  Western  railroad, 
whose  trains  will  no  doubt  be  carrying  a  large  proportion 
of  the  county's  material  wealth  before  this  article  finds  its 
way  into  print. 

Its  graded  line  now  (Jan.,  1884,)  hugs  the  many  windings- 
of  this  wild  stream  from  Beech  Creek  village  on  the  east 
through  Snow  Shoe  to  the  headwaters  of  its  north  branch. 

There  it  seeks  the  channel  of  the  Little  or  Black  Moshan- 
non  to  the  mouth  of  Rock  run  in  Rush  'township  when, 
turning  westward  and  crossing  the  Briartown  summit,  it 
gradually  descends  to  the  waters  of  the  Big  Moshannon  and 
on  to  Philipsburg. 

This  important  railroad  line  will  have  a  great  effect  on  t he- 
county' s  industries.  Much  of  it  is  already  ironed,  and  pass- 
ing as  it  does  through  a  region  hitherto  almost  devoid  of 
wagon-roads,  its  power  as  a  developing  agent  may  be  im- 
agined. 

In  its  course  through  the  county  it  twice  pierces  the  hills. 


I 

1 

STREAMS.  T4.  9 

The  first  tunnel  is  at  the  "Hog  Back,"  Curtin  township, 
300'  long,  from  portal  to  portal,  on  a  5°  curve,  and  driven 
through  the  white  Pocono  sandstone  No.  X,  which  there 
forms  the  precipitous  hillsides  of  Beech  creek.  The  second 
or  Mosliannon  tunnel,  in  Rush  township,  is  just  south-east 
from  the  new  town  of  Peale.  This  tunnel  is  1250'  long  on  a 
tangent,  and  was  completed  very  rapidly  owing  to  its  loca- 
tion in  the  upper  sandstone  members  of  XII,  which  are 
here  shaly  and  carry  a  small  and  worthless  coal  bed. 

In  addition  to  these,  this  railroad  has  many  deep  cuts  in 
the  coal  measures  and  underlying  sand  rocks,  the  chief  of 
which  is  the  big  cut  north-west  of  Snow  Shoe  at  the  crossing 
of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  and  Karthaus  pike  at  Askey's 
summit. 

Said  Eagle  creek,  both  from  its  ini})ortance  to  the  county 
at  large  and  the  rich  agricultural  country  it  waters,  is  prob- 
ably the  most  significant  stream  in  Centre  county. 

Heading  in  Taylor  township,  in  the  extreme  western  part 
of  the  county,  this  creek  takes  a  N.  60°  E.  course  through 
the  Bald  Eagle  valley,  hugging  close  to  the  north  base  of 
the  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  receiving  the  waters  of  Beech 
creek  at  the  Clinton  county  line,  and  finally  entering  the 
Susquehanna  river  below  the  town  of  Lock  Haven. 

Prom  the  north,  it  drains  the  entire  region  occupied  by 
the  Upper  Silurian  and  Devonian  measures  of  the  Allegheny 
"foot  hills"  aggregating  many  thousands  of  acres  of  good, 
arable  farm  land.  Chief  among  its  tributaries  from  the 
north  are  Vaughari s  and  Sparrows'  Runs,  in  Taylor  town- 
ship ;  Laurel  Run  and  numerous  smaller  streams  in  Worth; 
Williams1  Run,  Mud  Lick,  and  Laurel  Run  in  Huston ; 
Dick's  Run,  DewiW  s  Run,  McCormick  s  Run,  and  Free 
Run  in  Union ;  Wallis  Run,  rising  partly  in  Union  and 
partly  in  Boggs;  Moose  Run,  Half  s  Run,  Antis  Run.  and 
Dowdy  s  Run  in  Boggs;  Bullet  Run,  Green,  Canoe,  and 
smaller  streams  in  Howard,  and  finally  Marsh  Creek,  head- 
ing chiefly  in  Boggs,  flowing  parallel  to  Bald  Eagle  creek 
through  Curtin,  and  then  turning  S.  E.  through  Liberty  to 
the  parent  stream  at  Eagteville. 

This  latter  is  by  all  odds  its  most  important  tributary. 


10  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D' I5TVILLIERS. 

Rising  in  the  red  Catskill  rocks  of  Boggs  township,  and  re- 
ceiving WenseC s  Run  in  Curtin,  and  Confer  Greek  in  Lib- 
erty, it  waters  a  vast  territory  of  mountain  agricultural  land, 
finally  eating  its  way  through  the  soft  slate  hills  of  Liberty 
and  creating  a  considerable  amount  of  good  bottom  land 
near  its  confluence  with  Bald  Eagle  creek.  While  its  flow 
is  gentle,  owing  to  its  easterly  course  through  a  gradually 
falling  country,  it  is  an  important  stream  to  this  sparsely 
populated  region,  and  everywhere  presents  a  charmingly 
peaceful  contrast  to  the  wild  hills  which  enclose  it.  Almost 
all  the  other  streams  just  named  have  a  general  southerly 
course.  They  are  individually  unimportant  as  water  courses, 
though,  from  the  soft  and  pliable  nature  of  the  country 
through  which  they  flow,  create  marked  features  in  the 
topography  and  are  striking  illustrations  of  the  great  erod- 
ng  power  of  flowing  water. 

Their  headwaters  generally  mark  the  transition  beds  of 
the  two  chief  mountain  rocks — the  red  Catskill  No.  IX  and 
white  Pocono  sandstone  No.  X. 

Mountain  roads  are  built  up  almost  every  one  of  these 
ravines,  and  some  few  pass  over  the  Allegheny  summit  into 
the  coal  region  beyond. 

The  Drainage  of  Bald  Eagle  creek  from  the  south  is  even 
more  important,  for  it  comprises,  through  Spring  Greek, 
Buffalo  Run,  Fishing  Creek,  and  their  branches,  fully 
two  thirds  of  the  beautiful  and  highly  cultivated  Nittany 
valley. 

First  among  these  in  the  order  named  is  Spring  Creek,  a 
water  supply  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  agricul- 
tural and  manufacturing  interests  of  the  community. 

Heading  in  the  Seven  mountains  west  of  Churchville  or 
Tusseyville,  in  Potter  township,  and  receiving  accessions 
from  numerous  small  streams  around  Tussey  Knob,  in  Har- 
ris, it  flows  west  and  north  through  Harris,  College,  Benner, 
and  Spring  townships,  finally  bursting  through  the  Belle- 
fonte  Gap  in  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  and  entering  the 
Bald  Eagle  creek  at  Milesburg,  in  Union  township,  twelve 
or  fifteen  miles  from  its  source.  Its  junction  with  the  Bald 
Eagle  creek  marks  the  site  of  the  old  "Bald  Eagle's  Nest"  — 


STREAMS.  T.  11 

the  home  of  a  noted  Indian  warrior.  The  stream  had  its 
name  as  early  as  1776.  Its  chief  tributaries  proceeding 
southwards  from  its  mouth  are — 

L  Buffalo  Run,  heading  in  the  south  flank  of  the  Bald 
Eagle  mountain,  in  the  western  corner  of  Patton  township, 
flows  N.  E.  parallel  to  the  mountains  through  Patton  and 
Benner  townships  ten  miles  to  its  intersection  with  Spring 
creek  at  the  town  of  Bellefonte. 

It  established  the  line  of  the  recently  constructed  Belle- 
fonte and  Buffalo  Run  railroad  from  Bellefonte  to  the 
horse-shoe  curve  at  Benner  Waddle's — an  important  feature 
in  the  future  development  of  this  prolific  ore  country  and 
one  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  farming  interests  of  this 
section. 

2.  Logan's  Branch,  a  rapidly  flowing  stream  rising  in 
the  valleys  of  Nittany  mountain  at  Pleasant  Gap  and  in 
McBride's  Gap  in  Benner,  takes  a  northerly  course  through 
Spring  township  to  the  main  stream  at  Bellefonte. 

Both  of  its  initial  branches  sink  at  the  junction  of  the 
limestone  and  slates  along  the  north  base  of  Nittany  moun- 
tain, but  in  its  short  surface  flow  of  about  three  miles  south 
of  Bellefonte  it  has  a  fall  of  125',  furnishing  excellent  power 
for  several  important  industrial  works,  among  which  may 
be  mentioned  Hume's  grist  mill,  Mann's  axe  factory,  a  wire 
factory  to  the  north  of  this,  Valentine's  Bellefonte  forges 
and  rolling  mill,  and  the  large  Bellefonte  car  works. 

The  eroding  power  of  this  stream  is  well  seen  in  travel- 
ing along  the  Centre  Hall  pike  south  of  Bellefonte,  the  road 
running  in  a  ravine  from  100'  to  125'  below  the  limestone 
•crests  which  form  the  true  valley  plain. 

Some  of  the  deepest  rocks  in  the  county  are  exposed 
along  this  creek  at  the  beautiful  anticlinal  arch  about  one 
mile  south  of  the  town. 

3.  Slab  Cabin  Branch,  which  takes  its  rise  in  a  gap  of 
Tussey  mountain  south  of  Pine  Grove  Mills  in  Ferguson 
township — which  is  at  the  divide  between  the  waters  of  the 
Juniata  and  Susquehanna — sinks  in  the  limestones  for  a 
half  a  mile  and  then  flows  north-eastwardly  through  College 
township  to  Spring  creek  at  Houserville,  1|  miles  north-west 


12  T4.       REPOET  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'HSTVILLIERS. 

of  Lemon r.  It  waters  a  splendid  farming  country,  though 
devoid  of  importance  as  a  water-power. 

4.  Cedar  Creek,  a  stream  of  interest  to  the  people  of  lower 
Penn' s  Valley,  rises  in  two  branches  in  Potter  township  near 
the  Harris  line  ;  flows  south-west  through  the  latter  for  about 
4  miles  to  Spring  creek  at  Oak  Hall  Mills.  Its  waters  are 
entirely  confined  to  a  limestone  country  and  furnish  power 
for  the  Linden  Hall  and  Oak  Hall  Mills. 

These  four  branches,  with  the  main  creek,  pass  through 
or  are  contiguous  to  the  following  prosperous  villages  :  Lin- 
den Hall,  Boalsburg,  Shingletown,  Pine  Grove  Mills,  Centre 
Furnace,  Lemont,  Agricultural  College,  Houserville,  Pleas- 
ant Gap,  Roopsburg,  Bellefonte,  and  Milesburg,  and  water- 
ing as  they  do,  five  of  the  principal  valley  townships,  their 
importance  in  the  drainage  of  the  county  can  be  well  under- 
stood. 

Bald  Eagle  creek  receives  several  other  additions  from 
numerous  small  streams  in  the  Bald  Eagle  hills,  none  of 
any  importance  however,  except  the  two  creeks  which  gap 
the  mountain  ridge  at  Curtin  and  Howard. 

These  two  streams  both  head  in  Marion  township  between 
the  "Sand  Ridge"  and  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  and  while 
they  were  undoubtedly  of  far  greater  size  and  influence  in 
past  geological  age,  as  is  witnessed  by  the  erosion  of  their 
two  gaps,  they  are  at  present  of  but  little  importance. 

Little  Fishing  Creek,  while  not  attaining  anything  like 
the  importance  in  this  county  that  the  main  branch  does  in 
Clinton — which  with  its  numerous  affluents  drains  Sugar 
valley,  Lower  Nittany  valley  and  the  whole  plateau  of  IV 
and  V  known  as  the  Big  Mountain  before  cutting  through 
the  picturesque  and  wild  Mill  Hall  Gap — is  still  a  stream 
of  great  interest  to  the  people  of  Walker  township. 

The  main  stream  rises  in  Green  valley  in  Nittany  mount- 
ain, flows  east,  then  north,  creating  the  Hecla  Furnace  gap 
in  that  mountain  before  entering  the  limestone  plain  of  Nit- 
tany valley  between  Zion  and  Hublersburg. 

Flowing  thence  east,  it  receives  several  small  streams 
from  the  mountain  and  finally  leaves  the  county  at  Wash- 
ington Furnace. 


STREAMS.  T4.  13 

The  chief  tributaries  it  receives  from  Nittany  mountain 
valleys,  south  in  the  great  Madisonburg  Gap,  are  known  as 
Bear  Run,  rising  on  the  west  in  the  Medina  Sandstone  at 
Markle  and  Lee's  Gaps  ;  Dry  Run  coming  from  the  small 
valley  of  red  Medina  Shale  and  SS.  between  the  prongs  of 
the  double  Medina  mountain,  south  of  the  Miles  township 
line  ;  and  Musquito  Run  entering  from  the  south-east. 

These  three  streams  make  a  considerable  body  of  water, 
and  conjointly  they  are  daily  wearing  down  the  great  gap 
.still  deeper. 

Already  they  have  created  the  wildest  and  most  beautiful 
gorge  in  the  county  and  formed  a  natural  means  of  com- 
munication between  the  people  of  Penn's  valley  and  those 
of  lower  Nittany  valley. 

The  whole  topography  of  this  lower  end  of  the  valley  is 
greatly  furrowed,  the  erosion  of  the  streams  being  aided 
by  the  greater  dip  of  the  limestone,  as  well  as  its  more  sandy 
-character. 

The  drainage  of  the  remainder  of  Nittany  valley  on  the 
west  is,  as  has  been  already  stated,  southward  into  the  valley 
of  the  Juniata  and  is  confined  to  the  two  townships  of  Half 
Moon  and  Ferguson. 

The  chief  agent  of  drainage  here  is  Half  Moon  Run, 
which  rising  in  the  slates  and  sandstones  along  the  south 
flank  of  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain  around  Stormstown,  cuts 
successfully  through  the  three  anticlinal  ridges  of  the  Bar- 
rens: — Chestnut  or  Buck  Ridge;  Gatesburg  Ridge  and 
Tad  Pole  or  Sand  Ridge,  and  leaves  the  county  in  Ferguson 
Township  near  the  Pennsylvania  Furnace.  Here  it  meets 
the  Beaver  Branch  which,  issuing  from  the  beautiful  Rock 
Spring  at  the  base  of  Tussey  mountain  two  miles  east  of 
Pennsylvania  Furnace,  grooves  its  way  through  the  mag- 
nesian  limestones  along  the  south  flank  of  Tad  Pole  ridge 
to  Spruce  creek. 

The  Perm's  valley  country,  comprising  the  region  of  the 
Seven  rcj-^ntains,  and  the  rolling  valley  and  mountainous 
country  bttxeen  them  and  Nittany  mountain  on  the  north 
shows  but  Oi:^  artery  of  drainage — tha .  of  Penrf s  Creek 


14  T.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D' INVILLIERS. 

and  its  numerous  branches,  all  converging  about  the  Mifflin 
County  line. 

Penris  Creek  proper  rises  in  numerous  small  springs  in. 
the  middle  red  Medina  valley  of  Nittany  mountain,  south 
of  Hecla  Gap  in  Gregg  Township.  Sinking  in  the  limestone 
of  Brush  valley  south  of  J.  White's  house  it  issues  again  in 
the  beautiful  Penn's  valley  cave — one  of  the  numerous 
limestone  caverns  that  mark  these  Siluro-Cambrian  valleys. 

Its  waters  are  collected  in  Mr.  Long's  saw-mill  dam  after 
leaving  the  cave,  and  then  traverse  the  synclinal  slate  belt 
of  Brush  mountain,  where  several  smaller  streams  join  it. 
Crossing  the  succeeding  anticlinal  in  the  limestone  of  Perm's 
valley  and  furnishing  power  to  several  grist  mills,  it  passes 
Spring  Mills  and  the  slate  synclinal  of  eastern  Egg  Hill, 
over  the  George's  valley  anticlinal  to  the  base  of  the  Seven 
mountains,  where  it  is  turned  at  right  angles  to  the  east  and 
enters  Penn  township. 

Prom  here  its  course  is  mainly  an  easterly  one  to  Coburn 
station  on  the  Lewisburg  and  Tyrone  railroad,  everywhere 
skirting  the  base  of  the  mountains  and  practically  marking 
the  division  line  between  the  slates  and  limestones. 

At  Coburn  station  it  receives  Pine  creek  from  the  north 
and  taking  a  south-easterly  course  it  gaps  the  mountain, 
crosses  the  head  of  the  little  slate  valley  south  of  Beaver 
Dam  tunnel — called  by  the  Dutch  "  Lechathal  "or  Lick 
valley — and  enters  Haines  township  on  the  east. 

Leaving  the  slate  valley  at  Fowler's,  on  the  L.  and  T.  R. 
R.,  it  again  gaps  a  mountain  of  Oneida  No.  IV  before 
crossing  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Poe  valley,  finally  leaving 
the  county  through  a  beautiful  gorge  in  the  Medina  white 
sandstone  of  Paddy's  mountain. 

Its  course  through  Mifflin  and  Snyder  counties  to  the 
river  at  Selinsgrove  is  through  a  most  picturesque  part  of 
the  State,  twice  gapping  the  White  Mountain  synclinal 
knob,  flowing  thence  through  the  valley  of  the  middle  red 
Medina  as  far  as  Laurel  ton,  where  it  turns  still  more  to  the 
east  and  finally  gaps  Jack's  mountain.  From  Spring  Mills, 
in  Centre  county,  to  Laurelton  it  marks  the  course  of  the 
Lewisburg  and  Tyrone  railroad,  and  is  the  only  stream  that 


STREAMS.  T*.  15 

may  be  said  to  cut  through  the  various  mountain  ranges  of 
Centre,  Mifflin,  and  Snyder  counties.  Scenery  of  surpass- 
ing and  varying  grandeur  everywhere  characterizes  its 
course,  and  its  power  as  an  erosive  agent  is  paramount  to 
any  other  stream  in  the  region. 

Among  the  most  important  of  its  tributaries  in  Centre 
county  are — 

1.  Sinking  CreeJc,  which,  rising  in  the  extreme  south 
corner  of  Harris  township  in  the  remarkable  "  Bare  Mead- 
ows,"' 2200'  A.  T.,  encircles  a  dying  anticlinal   knob   of 
Oneida  IV,  and  flows  N.  E.  out  of  the  township  through 
George's  valley.     Coursing  through  the  No.  Ill  slate  of 
this  valley,  with  numerous  additions  from  mountain  rivu- 
lets, it  enters  the  limestone  of  the  "Loop"  south  of  Tussey 
knob,  in  Potter  township. 

Keeping  a  N.  E.  direction,  it  cuts  across  the  synclinal 
slate  belt  of  Tussey  Knob  and  Egg  Hill,  with  the  addition 
of  Laurel  run,  entering  from  the  south  from  the  mountain 
region  about  Thick  Head. 

After  meandering  through  this  slate  valley,  furnishing 
power  for  the  Collyer,  Lukenbach,  Sinking  Creek  and  Red 
Mills,  and  receiving  an  important  addition  from  the  mount- 
ain region  south  of  Potter's  Mills,  it  enters  the  limestone 
area  of  Penn's  valley  at  the  Sinking  creek  ore  bank,  1£ 
miles  east  of  Centre  Hill,  and  skirts  the  north  flank  of  Egg 
Hill  to  Spring  Mills,  where  it  joins  Penn's  creek. 

In  its  flow  of  about  14  miles  from  the  "Bare  Meadows" 
to  Spring  Mills,  it  shows  a  fall  of  about  1100  feet,  draining 
an  extensive  area. 

The  little  limestone  valley  of  the  "  Loop"  widening  N.  E. 
and  known  as  George's  valley,  is  drained  directly  into 
Penn's  creek  about  2  miles  south-east  of  Spring  Mills 

This  stream  is  swelled  by  numerous  branches  from  Egg 
Hill  on  the  north,  and  from  the  south  it  drains  Confer  and 
Triester  valleys  within  the  mountain  area. 

At  Coburn  Station  Penn  creek  receives  also 

2.  Pine  Creek  which,  with  its  main  branch  Elk  creek. 
drains  almost  the  entire  area  of  Haines  and  Miles  townships. 

Pine  creek  may  be  said  to  head  in  Pine  Creek  Hollow, 


16  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIEKS. 

between  Brush  and  Stone  mountains  in  Haines  township, 
close  to  the  Union  county  line. 

Flowing  S.  W.  through  this  narrow  slate  valley  and  re- 
ceiving from  Brush  mountain  on  the  north  small  streams 
from  Panther  Gap,  Big  Gap  and  Bear  Gap,  and  from  Stone 
mountain  on  the  south  Little  Gap  and  Whitmer  runs,  it 
enters  the  limestone  area  of  upper  Penn's  valley  at  Hoster- 
rnan's  saw-mill,  about  7  miles  east  of  Aaronsburg. 

Turning  south,  it  almost  immediately  enters  the  slate 
synclinal  of  Stone  mountain,  crossing  which  it  receives 
at  Woodward  a  small  tributary  from  the  Penn's  valley 
narrows. 

Pursuing  a  westwardly  course  from  here  it  practically 
divides  the  limestone  of  the  valley  and  slate  of  the  Seven 
mountains  as-  far  as  Reed's  saw-mill,  3£  miles  from  Wood- 
ward, showing  one  prominent  sink  about  midway  between 
these  two  points. 

At  Reed's  mill  it  enters  the  limestone  area  to  the  north, 
while  keeping  the  same  general  course  into  Penn  township, 
finally  meeting  the  parent  stream  at  Coburn. 

Elk  creek,  its  main  branch,  rises  similarly  in  the  Brush 
valley  slate  and  sandstone  narrows  well  up  towards  the 
east  end  of  Miles  township. 

Flowing  westward  in  the  valley  between  Brush  and  Nit 
tany  mountains,  with  numerous  accessions  from  these 
ridges  and  furnishing  many  excellent  mill  sites,  this  rapidly 
flowing  stream  enters  the  limestone  of  the  dying  Brush 
valley  anticlinal  near  M.  Rudy's  mill  approximately  divid- 
ing Nos.  II  and  III  as  far  as  a  point  midway  between 
Rebersburg  and  Centre  Mills. 

At  this  point  it  bends  south-west  through  the  slate  and 
then  almost  due  south  through  the  magnificent  MiUheim 
Gap  in  the  No.  IV  sandstones  of  Brush  mountain,  striking 
south  directly  across  the  double  anticlinal  of  Penn's  valley 
to  its  junction  with  Pine  creek,  f  mile  north  of  Coburn 
Station  on  the  L.  &  T.  R.  R. 

Its  gorge  through  the  Brush  Mountain  presents  a  magni- 
ficent sequence  of  the  lower  and  middle  members  of  No. 
IV  and  the  succeeding  slate  and  limestone  of  Penn's  valley. 


RAILROAD  LEVELS.  T4.    17 

and  its  waters  are  frequently  dammed  for  numerous  saw  and 
grist  mills. 

This  about  completes  the  drainage  system  of  the  county, 
the  remaining  streams  being  insignificant  in  character  and 
confined  to  the  mere  headwaters  of  creeks  which  flow  out 
from  Centre,  and  become  large  streams  in  bordering  counties. 

Railroad  levels. 

The  Raihcay  Lines  which  traverse  Centre  county  have 
furnished  levels  for  various  barometric  observations  taken 
in  the  region. 

The  following  tables  will  show  the  elevations  of  railroad 
grade  above  tide  at  the  respective  stations. 

Some  additional  elevations  from  experimental  or  prelimi- 
nary lines  are  likewise  appended. 

(TABLE  16  OF  REPORT  N.) 
1.  Bald,  Eagle  Valley  Railroad  * 

Miles  from 
Tyrone. 

Tyrone  (See  Tables  I,  15,  16), 0  900  907 

Summit  (Blair  Co.) 1103  1110 

Hannah,                             '.  • 10  1050  1057 

Port  Matilda,  Main  Street, 14  1000  1007 

B.  E.  Creek  bridge,     917  924 

Martha, 17  905  912 

Julian, 21  844  851 

Dick's  Run, 794  801 

Unionville, 26  775  782 

Snow  Shoe  R.R.  (16), 29  715  722 

Mitesburg  (17),             31  693  700 

Bald  Eagle  Canal 664  671 

Hollers', 644  651 

Mount  Eagle, 37  655  662 

Bald  Eagle  Plank  Road, 658  665 

Howard,       672  679 

Eagleville, 44  628  635 

Beech  Creek, 46  607  614 

Mill  Hall,         51  566  573 

Lock  Haven  Junction,  Junction  with  P.  &  E.  R.  R.  54  548  555 

*The  elevations  on  the  B.  E.  V.  R.  R.  were  compiled  from  a  profile  in  the 
Pennsylvania  R.  R.  Company  at  Philadelphia.  The  datum  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  P.  R.  R.  In  the  second  column  seven  feet  are  added  to  reduce  to 
mean  Atlantic  Ocean  level. 

2rr. 


18  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'l^VILLIERS. 

(TABLE  17  OF  REPORT  N.) 
2.   Belief  onte  and  Snow  Shoe 


Miles  from  Ocean 

Belief  onte.  A.  T.  Level. 

Bellefonte,  (see  Table  18),      .........            0  737  744 

Bald  Eagle  RR.  Junction,  ..........             4  715  722 

Gum  Stump,                   ............            8  1013  1020 

Summit,  Allegheny  mountain  summit,    ...           14  1728  1735 

Beech  creek,  level  of  water,  ........           18  1542  1E49 

Beech  creek,  level  of  rail  over  water  ,   ....  1592  1599 

Snow  Shoe,    ................           21  1565  157:1 


(TABLE  18  OF  REPORT  N.) 
3.   Bellefonte  Branch. 

Miles  from 

Milesburg. 

Milesburg,  (see  Table  16,) 0  693  70O 

B.  E.  V.  Plank  Road, 692  699 

Bellefonte,     3  737  744 


(TABLE  15  OF  REPORT  N.) 
4.    Tyrone  and  Clearfield  Railroad. 

Distance  Ocean 

from  Tyrone.  A.  T.  Level. 

Tyrone,  (see  Table  1,) 0  900  907 

Gardner's,          8  1561  1568 

Mt.  Pleasant      10  177/  1784 

Emig's  Summit,  A  llegheny  mountain  summit,          13  2038  2043 

Sandy  Ridge, 15  1905  1912 

Powelton,               16  1791  1798 

Osceola  branch  RR,, 19  1481  1488 

Dunbar,              1446  1453 

Moshannon  creek, 1435  1442 

Steiner's  Mills, 22?  1421  1428 

Philipsburg, 23  1418  1425 

Clearfield, 1096  1103 

Curwensville, 1103  1110 


RAILROAD  LEVELS.  T4.   19 

(TABLE  14  OF  REPORT  N.) 
5.  Lewisburg  and  Tyrone  Railroad.* 


Dist.  from            ,   «, 
P  &  E.  R.R.Junc.      '  J< 

O.L. 

P.  &.  E.  R.  R.  Junction,  Junction  with  Phila.  & 

Erie  R.  R.      Elevation  by  Chas.  W.  Ames  at 

this  point  462.75  ;  Lewisburg  Sta.  465.26  ;  west 

end  R   R.  Bridge  crossing  Susquehanna  River 

463  ;  east  end  do.  463.2.     Datura,  P.  R.  R.,  Har- 

risburg,                 

0 

447 

462 

Lewisburg,                                     

2 

451 

466 

Tunnell,  through  Paddy's  Mountain,  

32» 

944 

959 

34 

976 

991 

35 

999 

1014 

Coburn,  forks  of  Penn's  creek,      

36 

1011 

1026 

Buchanan,  mouth  of  Mudd}r  run,      

41 

1044 

1059 

Duncan  (Spring  Mills),    

43 

1063 

1078 

Centre  Hall,                                    

49 

1257 

1272 

Summit,  summit  of  Penns  valley,  head  of  Penns 

creek  and  head  of  Spring  creek,       

50 

1275 

1290 

Lemont,  end  of  Nittany  mountain,  

58 

987 

1002 

Kelley,  State  Agricultural  College,  

61 

1096 

1111 

Pinegrove,       

64 

1221 

1236 

Shugart's,    

67 

1116 

1131 

Lvons  (Penna.  Furnace),'  

71 

1059 

1074 

Tyrone,     

88 

892 

907 

6.  Bellefonte  and  Buffalo  Run  Railroad.-^ 

Dist.  from 

Above 

Ocean 

Bellefonte. 

Datum. 

Level. 

Intersection  with  Bellefonte  Branch  P.  R.  R.,  .   . 

0 

0 

720 

Creek  crossing  Buffalo  run,    

.      1J 

62 

782 

Road  east  of  Fillmore,                

5.0 

192 

912 

Road  leading  north  of  Hunter's,      

5.6 

207 

927 

Patton-Benner  township  line  road,      

6.8 

241 

961 

Buffalo  run  road  at  Sellers,        

8.0 

285 

1005 

Do.        do.        Waddell's  

10.3 

384 

1104 

Do.        do.        Stevenson,     

11.1 

426 

1146 

Summit,      .                                          .       

12.3 

526 

1246 

Pond  Bank  (on  grade  below  mine),  

13.9 

480 

1200 

Lvtle  Bank  on  flat,                                 

13.7 

603 

132S 

Hiram  Thompson  *s  cross  roads,       .   •   •  

14.8 

351 

1070 

Strenble  ore  bank,                             

18.0 

452 

1172 

Johnson's  bank,  waSher  foundation,  

480 

1200 

College  road  

17.4 

430 

1150 

Johnson's  bank,          

18.0 

460 

1180 

Constructed  to  Duncan?  (Spring  Mills).  Jan.  1,  1884. 

fGraded;  ready  for  tie*  November,  1883.     Levels  and  distances  furnished 
by  J.  M.  Bell,  Resident  Engineer. 


20  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 


7.  Bellefonte,  Nittany  Valley  and  Lemont  Railroad.* 

Distance. 

A.  T. 

Bellefonte  station,  Bellefonte  Branch  B.  E.  V.  RR,, 

.   .   .         0 

744 

Crossing  Boalsburg  pike,                      

.   .   .          2.6 

863 

Dale's  Summit,  (natural  surface,)  ...           

...         7 

1110 

Lemont,  (nat.  surface  opp.  Presbyterian  church,) 

.    .    .          9 

1040 

Dale's  Mills    (surface  water  in  Spring  creek,) 

9.7 

1000 

Oak  Hall    (Boalsburg  pike,)            

.    .   .        10.3 

1029 

Linden  Hall    (  public  road  ) 

12  8 

1109 

Centre  Hall   (public  road  ) 

18  1 

1274 

Sorinar  Mills,  frail  at  depot,)     . 

23.9 

1086.5 

8.  Beech  Creek,  Clearfield  and  South  Western  Railroad.^ 

Dist.  A.  T. 

Jersey  Shore  junction  with  P.  &  E.  RR.,     0                  597 

Lock  Haven,  (Castanea?,) 10.25             576 

Beech  creek,         .              ....  19.27             616 

Mouth  of  Hay's  run,  surface  of  water  in  Beech  creek,  .   .    .  833 

Surface  of  Beech  creek,  south  side, ^  944 

Grade,                                         I  Hog-back  3g  14             952 

Surface  of  ground  over  tunnel,        .              .   .   .   j    Tunnel,  1122 

Surface  of  water  Beech  creek,  north  side,    .   .    .  j  .                 975 

Gray's  splash  dam,     1090 

Cato  bridge,       1174 

Pancake  mill,              1410 

Snow  Shoe  summit,  surface  of  ground, 48.21           1617 

Rock  run  crossing,                                       1470 

Briartown  summit,  surface  of  ground,      1603 

Moshannon  tunnel,  surface  of  ground, 1643 

Grade  at  Moshannon  tunnel,  E  entrance, 1489 

Moshannon  creek,  surface  of  water, 1262 

"               "          crossing,  grade, 1374 

Six-Mile  run  surface,         1353 

Black  Bear  run  surface, 1365 

Philipsburg  grade, 73.35           1425 

*  Pro  posed  railroad  distances  and  elevations  furnished  by  P.  J.  White,  C. 
E.,  Feb.  20, 1884. 
t  Distances  and  elevations  furnished  by  W.  Wetherill,  C.  B.,  Feb.,  1884. 


RAILROAD  LEVELS.  TV  21 

(TABLES  156  AND  186  OF  REPORT  N.) 
9.    Other  Levels  in  Centre  County.* 

Tyrone, ' 892  895 

Einig's  Gap  Summit, 2025  2028 

Pool,  Osceola  Dam,            1444  1447 

Moshannon  creek,  mouth  of  Beaver  run, 1444  1447 

"                   "                Bear  run,      1467  1470 

"                   "                Mountain  branch, 1485  1488 

"                   »               Whiteside  run,       1488  1491 

Crest  of  Allegheny  mountain  at   Middle  Summit,  Three 

Spring  Gap  and  source  of  Moshann  on  creek, 2233  2236 

Do.    at  Northern  summit  Three  Spring  Gap,        ....  2278  2281 
Do.    one  mile  east  of  Northern  summit  and  highest  ground,  2611  2614 
Do.     in  gap  between  north  fork  of  Sinking  run  and  Mount- 
ain branch,        ....  2406  2409 

Do.    in  gap  between  Laurel  run  and  tributary  of  Mount- 
ain branch,                                                  2364  2367 

Do.     between  Bear  run  and  Mt.  Pleasant  run, 2221  2224 

Crossing  Nittany  mountain  at  Hecla  Furnace, 1867  1874 

Head  of  Penn's  creek,  (water,)               1129  1136 

Spring  Mill's  intersection  with  L.  &  T.  RR.,      1072  1079 

Bellefonte  and  Lewistown  turnpike  crossing,  Nittany  mt.,  1650  1657 

*  Statement  of  levels  in  the  Clearfield  region  furnished  by  E.  M.  Leuffer, 
C.  E.    Add  3'  for  ocean  levels. 


22  T. 


Plat<<  IL 


CHAPTER  III. 

Topography  of  the  District. 

The  Escarpment  of  the  Allegheny  mountains  presents 
an  irregular  but  nearly  straight  front  facing  towards  the 
south-east,  and  running  parallel  to  the  Bald  Eagle  mount- 
ain, entirely  across  the  county. 

It  is  gapped  but  once  in  the  entire  county,  by  the  valley 
of  Beech  creek,  which  stream,  for  some  distance,  forms  the 
divide  between  Centre  and  Clinton  counties. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  bold  and  rugged  character  of 
its  southern  slope,  the  coal  industry  of  its  three  mountain 
townships  has  led  to  the  building  of  two  railroads  directly 
over  them,  while  a  third  is  in  a  fair  way  toward  early  com- 
pletion through  the  gap  and  valley  of  Beech  creek. 

The  wagon  roads  over  the  mountains,  however,  are  fast 
falling  into  disuse  with  one  or  two  exceptions. 

But  little  of  the  land  on  the  Allegheny  plateau  can  be 
economically  worked,  the  sandy,  porous  character  of  the 
soil  on  its  summits  and  the  stony  nature  of  the  ground  be- 
low, preventing  profitable  farming. 

All  these  higher  lands  are  formed  by  conglomeritic  sand 
rocks  (No.  XII),  creating  summits  varying  from  1500  to 
2300  feet  above  sea  level,  and  generally  wooded. 

These  rocks  are  all  dipping  at  gentle  angles  to  the  north- 
west (see  cross-section  on  colored  map)  but  sufficiently 
rapid  to  allow  of  the  occurrence  of  the  coal  measures  6  or 
7  miles  north  of  the  crest  line.  The  coal  measure  soils 
produce  a  fair  farming  land,  but  are  apt  to  be  harsh  and 
cold. 

The  next  lower  sandstone  formation  of  the  county — the 

(23  T*.) 


24  T*.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Pocono  or  No.  X — has  likewise  left  its  mark  on  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  county.  South  of  the  Allegheny  crest  it  oc- 
curs everywhere  as  an  outer  ridge  or  terrace,  forming  the 
rocky  cliffs  or  ribs  that  overhang  the  headwaters  of  the  nu- 
merous streams  rising  in  the  mountain.  It  is  as  equally 
unadapted  for  agricultural  purposes  as  the  conglomerate 
rock  of  No.  XII.  Indeed  in  many  parts  of  the  mountain 
plateau,  its  rocks  bear  so  close  an  analogy  to  the  conglom- 
erate series  as  to  make  lithological  identification  difficult. 
This  white  sandstone  also  extends  up  the  valley  of  Beech 
creek  through  the  mountain  gap  to  near  Cato  and  up  the 
valley  of  the  Susquehanna  and  Big  Moshannon  nearly  to 
Peale,  reaching  far  up  toward  the  headwaters  of  the  moun- 
tain streams  in  the  north  end  of  the  county,  towards  the 
line  of  the  Hyner — Pine  Glen — Laurel  Hill  axis. 

The  Said  Eagle  valley  lies  north  of  Bald  Eagle  moun- 
tain, and  stretches  northward  about  two  miles  to  the  beau- 
tifully rounded  foot-hills  of  the  Allegheny  mountains. 
Topographically  it  may  be  made  to  include  the  Lower  Hel- 
derberg  limestone  (No.  VI),  the  Oriskany  sandstone  (No. 
VII)  and  the  Marcellus,  Hamilton,  and  Chemung  groups 
(No.  VIII),  meeting  still  further  to  the  north  and  higher  up 
the  mountain  slope  the  red  layers  of  the  Catskill  or  Old 
Red  sandstone  No.  IX. 

The  valley  proper  is  only  about  £  miles  wide,  except  at 
its  eastern  end,  in  Liberty  township,  where  its  junction 
with  the  valley  of  Beech  creek  causes  it  to  spread  to  twice 
that  width. 

As  a  whole,  it  is  remarkably  flat,  rising  gently  from 
Clinton  county  at  Beech  Creek  to  the  summit  just  west  of 
the  Blair  county  line,  about  14  feet  to  the  mile,  but  show- 
ing a  cross-section  everywhere  of  remarkable  evenness  of 
elevation.  The  excellence  of  its  soil  for  cereals  and  grazing 
land  is  chiefly  due  to  the  presence  of  the  upper  Silurian 
limestones  and  the  calcareous  beds  often  found  at  the  base 
of  the  Marcellus  slates  along  the  north  edge  of  the  valley. 

Bald  Eagle  Mountain  crosses  the  county  from  west  to 
east  as  already  mentioned,  and  occurring  between  two  highly 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  THE  DISTRICT.  T4.   25 

cultivated  plains  on  either  side  of  it,  is  probably  the  most 
striking  belt  in  the  county. 

It  is  a,  north  dipping  monoclinal  as  shown  by  the  cross 
section  of  the  county,  formed  by  the  usually  steeply  dip- 
ping sandrocks  of  No.  IV.  It  is  a  double  mountain  made 
up  of  a  lower  Oneida  gray  sandstone  forming  the  terrace 
overlooking  the  Nittany  valley  on  the  south,  and  an  upper 
Medina  white  sandstone,  fine  grained  but  hard  and  com- 
pact, which  forms  the  central  ridge  or  keel  of  all  the  double 
synclinal  mountains  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county. 

Between  these  two  white  sandrocks  forming  the  ribs 
as  it  were  of  the  mountain  range,  there  is  a  softer  interme- 
diate slialy  member,  usually  red  in  color  but  showing  olive 
and  green  tints  occasionally.  This  is  the  red  Medina.  It 
is  this  middle  member  that  makes  the  fertile  valleys  which 
lie  between  the  rugged,  sterile  sandstone  mountains,  and  as 
its  soil  is  susceptible  of  considerable  cultivation  where  at  all 
exposed,  owners  of  mountain  lands  ought  to  give  it  special 
attention. 

These  same  rocks  just  mentioned,  together  with  the  over- 
lying formation,  the  Clinton  sandstones  and  shales  No.  V 
occupying  the  north  flank  of  the  mountains,  are  here  seen 
for  the  last  time  in  Pennsylvania,  as  no  anticlinal  to  the 
north  has  been  strong  enough  to  bring  them  to  the  surface 
within  this  State. 

The  sandrocks  of  No.  IV  form  all  the  double  synclinal 
mountains  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  county,  such  as 
Nittany  mountain,  Brush  mountain,  Tussey  mountain,  and 
the  various  local  ridges  included  in  the  Seven  mountains. 

Of  the  first  of  these,  the  Nittany  mountain,  it  may  be 
remarked  that  it  forms  a  prominent  feature  in  the  contour 
of  the  county,  rising  from  a  plain  of  limestone  at  Lemont, 
and  forking  eastward  so  as  to  include  within  its  bifurcated 
central  keel  a  small  patch  of  the  Clinton  No.  V  formation 
along  the  Clinton  county  line  in  Walker  township. 

Such  also  are  Brush  mountain,  Short  mountain,  Egghitt, 
Tussey  mountain  and  the  various  other  ridges  of  the  Seven 
mountains  beyond — a  series  of  synclinal  canoe-shaped  hills, 


26  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E .  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

separated  by  anticlinal  valleys  of  limestone  and  slate,  but 
all  presenting  the  same  rocks  in  the  same  order. 

Of  the  anticlinal  limestone  and  slate  valleys  included  be- 
tween these  synclinal  mountains,  that  of  Nittany  valley  is 
by  far  the  largest  and  most  important.  Prof.  Rogers  in 
his  Final  Report  p.  467,  calls  this  grand  axis  130  miles  long, 
and  from  15  to  16  miles  wide  from  the  Nittany  mountain  to 
the  center  of  the  first  coal  basin  on  the  Allegheny  mountains, 
"The  actual  vertical  height  of  the  wave,  estimated  by  the 
difference  of  levels  assumed  by  the  base  of  the  Auroral 
(Siluro-Cambrian)  series  on  the  axis  in  Nittany  valley,  and 
the  same  strata  under  the  center  of  the  first  coal  basin,  is  as 
much  as  20,000  feet.  If,  in  other  words,  the  coal  rocks  which 
once  spanned  this  mighty  wave  were  now  in  the  position 
from  which  they  have  been  stripped,  they  would  rest  per- 
pendicularly over  the  anticlinal  axis  of  Dittany  valley  at 
the  prodigious  altitude  of  4  miles." 

Reaching  its  greatest  altitude  in  Centre  county,  the  axis 
dies  so  rapidly  to  the  east,  in  Clinton  county,  as  to  allow 
of  the  arching  over  and  connection  of  the  Bald  Eagle  and 
Nittany  mountains,  which  cuts  off  the  topographical  con- 
nection between  Nittany  and  Nippenose  valleys,  otherwise 
mere  parts  of  this  same  anticlinal  arch. 

Brush  valley  and  Penn's  valley — both  lesser  anticlinals 
of  the  same  description,  lying  on  either  side  of  the  Brush 
mountain  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county — likewise  at- 
tain their  greatest  elevation  in  this  county,  and  known  as 
Penn's  valley  when  joined  together  south-west  of  the  end 
of  Brush  mountain,  they  continue  south-westward  through 
the  county  as  the  southern  division  of  Nittany  valley. 

The  short  and  minor  anticlinals  of  Poe,  Confer  and  other 
small  valleys  within  the  Seven  mountains,  are  but  repeti- 
tions of  these  folds  in  the  earth's  crust  which  have  been 
only  strong  enough  to  bring  to  the  surface  the  next  higher 
or  Hudson  River  slate  formation  No.  III. 

Thus  between  the  Lewistown  valley  on  the  south  and 
the  Allegheny  mountain  on  the  north,  in  Mifflin  and  Centre 
counties,  there  are  ten  approximately  parallel  compressed 
rock  waves  ;  and  at  the  head  of  each  anticlinal  cove,  the 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  THE  DISTRICT.  T4,  27 

two  bounding  terraces  unite  and  form  a  broad  elevated 
mountain  floor  made  up  of  three  sandstones,  a  middle 
softer  member  between  two  harder  and  more  resisting  ones. 
The  limestone  and  slate  lands  of  these  valleys  make 
the  very  finest  farming  lands  and  do  excellently  for  cereals 
and  grazing  purposes.  Composed  of  the  same  rocks  that 
form  the  Great  or  Kitta  tinny  valley  and  Chester  valley  in 
south-east  Pennsylvania,  they  enjoy  the  same  reputation  in 
this  county,  until  at  the  present  time  but  few  acres  through- 
out this  vast  extent  of  territory  remain  untouched  by  the 
husbandman. 


28  T1. 


Plate  III. 


Sf/H/ 


\  l    \ 


'41 


$s  1 

t!  /  / 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Geological  Structure. 

The  various  measures  from  the  limestone  of  II  to  the  coal 
measures  of  XIII  in  Centre  county  are  folded  in  a  regular 
succession  of  anticlinal  ridges  and  synclinal  basins,  stretch- 
ing from  south-east  to  north-west. 

Considerable  variations,  both  as  to  the  force  and  distance 
apart  of  these  folds  exist,  and  these  differences  play  an  im- 
portant r61e  in  the  economic  interests  of  the  county. 

For  instance,  while  the  rocks  of  the  anticlinal  ridges  all 
dip  away  from  the  axis  normally  to  the  north-west  and 
south-east — as  a  glance  at  the  map  will  show — the  rising  and 
sinking  of  these  axes  north-east  and  south-west  along  their 
lines  of  trend  produce  such  differences  of  dip  and  sequence 
of  measures  as  to  alternately  bury  beneath  the  surface  and 
elevate  into  the  air  the  ore-bearing  rocks  of  the  valleys 
and  the  coal- bearing  strata  of  the  Allegheny  basins. 

A  diagram  will  probably  illustrate  this  important  feature 
better  than  any  description,  so  accordingly  I  reproduce 
from  the  First  Survey  report,  in  Fig.  1,  Page  plate  1.  page 
4,  a  section-line  along  the  Nittany  valley  anticlinal,  which 
clearly  shows  its  effect. 

South  of  the  Allegheny  mountains  the  two  principal  an 
ticlinal  axes  of  the  county  are  those  of  Nittany  and  Penn's 
valleys.  Both  of  them  elevate  the  limestones  of  No.  II  and 
include  between  them  the  striking  synclinal  of  Nittany 
mountain. 

The  Nittany  Valley  axis  lies  decidedly  on  the  north  side 
of  the  valley,  close  to  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  its  north 
dips  being  generally  much  steeper  than  its  south  ones.  (See 
section  on  map.) 

(29T*.)  « 


30  T4.        KEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

The  crest  of  this  flexure  is  not  a  straight  line,  but,  like 
similar  axes  to  the  south,  shows  a  crescent  shape  with  the 
prongs  of  the  curve  bent  southwards.  The  existence  of 
Nippenose  valley  in  Clinton  and  Musquito  valley  in  Ly- 
coming  is  due  to  this  fact. 

In  Centre  county  however  this  axis  keeps  practically  par- 
allel to  Bald  Eagle  mountain. 

Nittany  valley  is  about  31  miles  long  and  from  2  to  5£ 
miles  broad.  Its  central  region,  from  about  3  miles  east  of 
Belief onte  into  Clinton  county,  and  in  the  western  part  of 
the  county  in  Half  Moon  and  Ferguson  townships  goes  by 
the  name  of  the  "Barrens,"  owing  to  the  sandy  nature  of 
the  two  low  ridges  known  respectively  as  Sand  Ridge  and 
Chestnut  or  Buck  Ridge. 

This  part  of  the  valley  is  destitute  of  water,  which  has 
led  to  the  sinking  of  artesian  wells  at  various  places  to  a 
depth  of  400  to  500  feet  to  furnish  water  for  washing  the 
rich  limonite  or  brown  hematite  ores  which  accompany  these 
rocks. 

Though  chiefly  marking  the  wooded  and  uncultivated 
valley  tracts,  the  soil  of  the  "Barrens"  is  by  no  means 
wanting  in  fertility,  and  to  a  great  degree  the  name  has  be- 
come a  figure  of  speech  rather  than  descriptive  of  any  actual 
condition  of  things. 

These  "Barren  Ridges"  attain  in  places  considerable 
elevation,  but  are  rather  an  elevated  plateau  shape  than  a 
definite  ridge. 

Between  Bellefonte  and  the  Clinton  county  line  the  main 
axis  of  the  valley  is  everywhere  from  1£  to  2  miles  south  of 
the  Bald  Engle  mountain,  being  well  marked  on  the  turn- 
pike to  Centre  Hall  about  1  mile  south  of  Bellefonte 
where  some  of  the  sandy  measures  common  to  the  Barrens 
are  visible. 

If  I  am  correct  in  identifying  Sand  Ridge  east  of  Belle- 
fonte with  Chestnut  Ridge  towards  Huntingdon  county,  as 
parts  of  the  same  axis,  the  floor  of  the  valley  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Bellefonte  would  seem  to  be  a  low  part  of  this 
flexure,  for  the  measures  all  indicate  a  type  of  limestone 
slightly  higher  in  the  great  Siluro-Cambrian  formation  No. 


GEOLOGICAL  STRUCTURE.  T4.  31 

II  than  that  occupied  by  the  sandy  measures  of  these  ridges. 
Yet  the  section  through  Belief  on  te  shows  some  sandy  layers 
south  of  the  town.  The  exact  horizon  of  these  sandy  rocks 
is  not  yet  well  made  out,  but  all  ideas  of  their  representing 
a  portion  of  the  next  lowest  formation  (Potsdam  Sand- 
stone No.  I,)  seem  to  be  dispelled  by  the  fact  that  the  Scotia 
Ore  Mine  wells  on  the  south  flank  of  Chestnut  Ridge  ''Bar- 
rens" (400±'  deep)  passed  through  a  considerable  amount 
of  good  limestone  after  piercing  the  sandy  measures  on  top. 

Professor  Lesley  writing  under  date  of  July  27,  '83,  gave 
as  his  opinion  on  the  subject:  "That  the  Barrens  are  low 
in  II  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  their  '  ridge'  (east  of  Belle- 
fonte)  only  runs  to  within  5  miles  of  Mill  Hall  Gap,  there 
sinking  (with  the  central  axis  of  Nittany  Valley)  and  allow- 
ing the  middle  or  upper  limestones  to  circle  around  over 
the  axis." 

It  is  true  that  the  increased  dip  of  the  measures  south  of 
Bellefonte  (50°)  over  those  of  the  Sand  Ridge  (20°-25°)  would 
tend  to  expose  the  former  to  much  more  rapid  erosion, 
allowing  their  disintegrated  sand  to  be  carried  out  of  the 
great  gap  in  the  mountains  by  the  waters  of  Spring  creek, 
Logan's  branch  and  Buffalo  run  ;  while  the  gently  inclined 
rocks  of  the  "Barrens,"  without  present  creek  erosion, 
would  naturally  keep  their  place  intact  much  longer. 

Further  evidence  however  of  the  lower  horizon  of  the 
Sand  Ridge  rocks,  or,  in  other  words,  the  greater  vertical 
elevation  of  the  anticlinal  axis  there  is  shown  in  the  effect 
on  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain  to  the  north. 

The  map  shows  a  marked  bend  northwards  in  the  mount- 
ain east  of  the  Cur  tin  Gap,  along  the  Spring-Marion  town- 
ship line. 

It  is  just  here  that  Sand  Ridge  rises,  throwing  tne  moun- 
tain forward  and  producing  such  a  series  of  steep  dips 
(often  overturned)  as  to  give  rise  to  the  belief  that  the  arch 
had  snapped  or  faulted  somewhere  south  of  Jacksonville, 
where  a  cross-section  of  the  valley  would  show  nothing  but 
south-east  dips  from  mountain  to  mountain. 

I  was  unable   to   detect   any  signs   of  a  fault  on  the 


32  T4.        REPORT  OF   PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

ground ;  and  while  the  rocks  are  very  greatly  overturned,  I 
am  under  the  impression  that  the  arch  still  remains  whole. 

Further  east  in  Clinton  county  the  vertical  subsidence  of 
this  axis  allows  the  mountain  to  right  itself  again,  (indeed 
this  erection  begins  in  Centre  county,)  until  south  of  the 
village  of  Salona,  in  Clinton  county,  the  arch  is  perfectly 
regular  and  gentle,  with  north  dips  of  3°-8°  and  south  dips 
of  10°-20°,  gradually  subsiding  beneath  the  upper  or  Tren- 
ton limestones. 

Similar  effects  are  brought  about  by  the  elevation  of 
Chestnut  Ridge  in  the  western  part  of  the  county. 

For  8  miles  west  of  Bellefonte  the  floor  of  the  valley  is 
made  up  of  limestone  (frequently  siliceous  and  cherty,  but 
devoid  of  the  sandstone  common  to  the  "Barrens");  but 
west  of  this  point  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pond  and 
Lambourn  Ore  Banks  in  Patton  township,  the  rising  of 
the  axis  in  Chestnut  Ridge  again  throws  the  Bald  Eagle 
mountain  northward  along  the  Half  Moon-Patton  line. 

It  only  remains  to  trace  this  remarkable  axis  in  its  course 
through  the  county  and  speak  of  its  effects  as  shown  in 
several  cross-sections  of  the  valley. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  it  is  always  to  be  found 
along  the  north  side  of  the  valley  at  from  1^  to  2  miles  from 
the  Bald  Eagle  mountain. 

In  the  lower  or  eastern  end  of  the  county,  its  position  is 
readily  remarked  by  reason  of  the  elevation  of  Sand  Ridge, 
which  practically  divides  Marion  and  Walker  townships. 

Passing  into  Spring  township  just  north  of  the  Taylor 
and  Gatesburg  Ore  Banks,  and  creating  quite  a  prominent 
limestoite  ridge,  it  is  next  well  seen  about  1  mile  S.  of 
Bellefonte  near  the  toll  gate  on  Pleasant  Gap  pike,  where 
it  throws  off  dips  of  30°-50°  N.  W.  and  20°-12°  S.  E.  as 
shown  in  the  section  on  colored  map. 

It  next  crosses  Spring  creek  about  l£  miles  due  south 
of  Roopsburg  with  dips  of  10°-12°,  and  continues  south- 
westward,  gradually  rising  in  the  high  land  of  Benner 
township  to  the  Patton  line.  Here,  just  south  of  Fillmore, 
it  is  again  seen  in  the  old  Crust  Bank  workings. 

Passing  near  the  Pond  Bank  and  between  the  Lambourn 


GEOLOGICAL  STRUCTURE.  T*.  33 

and  Newell  openings,  it  gradually  lifts  up  Chestnut  or  Buck 
Ridge,  continues  north  of  the  Scotia  Mines  and  leaves  the 
county  in  the  eastern  corner  of  Ferguson. 

Throughout  its  course  in  this  county,  this  axis  line  is 
strikingly  straight,  keeping  parallel  with  the  Bald  Eagle 
mountain  all  the  way,  everywhere  exhibiting  moderate  dips 
to  the  S.  E.,  but  steep  (and  often  overturned)  N".  W.  dips 
into  the  mountain. 


Two  subordinate  anticlinal  axes  range  along  the  southern 
part  of  Nittany  valley  west  of  the  dying  spur  of  Ni'ttany 
mountain. 

They  are  confined  entirely  to  Ferguson  township,  dying 
eastward  before  reaching  College  township,  which  exhibits 
nothing  but  gentle  S.  E.  dips  from  the  main  axis  to  Tussey 
mountain. 

Both  these  axes,  however,  bring  up  the  lower  sandy 
measures  which  are  still  further  elevated  in  Chestnut  ridge, 
so  that  the  whole  surface  of  Ferguson  township  north  of  the 
Whitehall  road  is  an  undulating  plain  of  the  "barrens," 
made  up  chiefly  of  loosely  aggregated  sand,  devoid  of  ex- 
posures and  generally  uncultivated. 

The  first  of  these  subordinate  flexures,  known  locally  as 
the  Gatesburg  Ridge,  lies  about  1£  miles  to  the  south  of 
Chestnut  Ridge,  and  about  the  same  distance  north  of  the 
third.  Tadpole  or  Sandy  Ridge  anticlinal  passing  close  to 
Penna.  Furnace  and  the  Bryson  ore  banks. 

The  arch  of  the  Gatesburg  Ridge  axis  is  will  seen  in  the 
valley  of  Half  Moon  run  just  below  the  little  village  of 
Marengo  on  the  L.  &  T.  RR. 

It  is  very  flat  here,  showing  dips  of  12°-15°  IN".  W.  and 
6°  south-east,  though  increasing  in  a  mile  on  each  side  of 
the  axis  to  60°  and  35°  respectively. 

This  axis  makes  no  definite  ridge,  but  rather  an  elevated 
plateau  sinking  to  the  N".  E.  and  carrying  down  its  sandy 
measures  below  the  limestone  area  of  College  township. 

Tadpole  Ridge,  a  probable  equivalent  of  the  Cale  Hollow 
3T4. 


34  T. 


Plate  IV. 


GEOLOGICAL  STRUCTURE.  T4.  35 

axis  of  Huntingdon  county,  takes  a  parallel  course  from 
just  north  of  Pennsylvania  Furnace  on  the  west  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Johnston  ore  bank  in  College  township,  lap- 
ping past  the  dying  Brush  valley  axis,  between  which  two 
axes  the  Nittany  mountain  synclinal  trough  occurs,  rising 
eastward  and  bringing  up  successively  the  slates  of  III  and 
the  sandstone  of  IV  east  of  Lemont. 

At  Pennsylvania  Furnace  this  axis  throws  off  dips  of  25°- 
60°  to  the  N.  W.  and  25°-40°  S.  E.  into  Tussey  mountain 
monoclinal. 

But  few  exposures  occur  at  its  eastern  extremity,  all  of 
which  are  to  the  south-east  at  angles  of  15°-30°. 


Several  sections  across  Nittany  Valley  show  the  varying 
structure  of  the  rocks. 

(1.)  Madisonburg  Gap  Section. — Beginning  on  the  east 
the  first  to  be  described  is  at  the  Clinton  county  line. 

The  line  of  the  Sand  Ridge  (Nittany  valley)  axis  is  here 
barely  a  mile  distant  from  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain. 

The  sand  rocks  of  the  mountain  all  dip  steeply  to  the 
N.  W. — are  often  vertical  and  even  overturned,  as  is  evi- 
denced by  S.  E.  dips  80°  and  86°  in  the  Hudson  river  slates 
of  No.  Ill  along  the  south  base  of  the  mountain.  Back  of 
the  slate  the  shaly,  thin  bedded  Trenton  limestone  comes 
in,  succeeded  further  south  by  magnesian  sandy  limestone 
of  a  white,  hard  crystalline  character  and  finally  by  the 
loose  sandy  measures  of  the  uncultivated  "barrens."  The 
axis  is  pretty  regular  here  preparatory  to  righting  itself  in 
a  perfect  arch  in  Clinton  Co.,  south  of  Millhall.  Keeping 
to  the  north  side  of  the  anticlinal,  the  section  line  passes 
the  ore  banks  of  that  region  about  2£  miles  N.  W.  of  the 
old  Washington  furnace,  where  the  measures,  still  show 
S.  E.  overturned  dips. 

These  ores,  Washington  furnace  and  Beck  banks,  are 
about  3,000  feet  below  the  top  of  No.  II  or  junction  with 
the  black  slates  of  No.  Ill,  and  are  again  brought  to  the 
surface  on  the  south  side  of  the  ridge  and  anticlinal  in  the 
Snavely,  Barlow  and  Day,  and  Huston  banks,  where  they 
occur  between  bands  of  cherty  limestone  dipping  about  S. 


36  T4.        REPORT  OP  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

35°  E.  30°.  This  dip  continues  to  the  base  of  Nittany 
mountain  where  dips  of  40°  S.  E.  in  the  slate  and  50°  in  the 
Oneida  sandstone  or  terrace  mountain  are  exposed. 

The  mountain  synclinal  then  flattens  ;  the  middle  or 
Medina  red  sandstone  member  of  IV  shows  dips  of  only 
30°,  and  the  inner  Medina  white  S.  S.  25°,  before  reaching 
the  considerable  body  of  Clinton  red  shale  and  sandstone 
No  V  preserved  in  tUe  Pheasant  valley  trough. 

(2.)  Section  at  Howard  and  Jacksonville. 

This  section,  4  miles  west  of  the  last,  was  compiled  near 
Jacksonville  through  which  Lick  run  issues  to  the  Bald 
Eagle  creek  at  Howard. 

The  village  is  about  \  mile  south  of  the  Bald  Eagle  moun- 
tain. The  siliceous  limestone  strata  exhibit  themselves 
here  dipping  68°-80°  to  the  S.  E.,  overturned  to  that  amount, 
some  of  it  showing  good  pale  blue  limestone  layers. 

No  evidences  of  a  fault  along  here,  as  suggested  in  the 
First  Survey  Report,  were  seen. 

The  valley  between  Jacksonville  and  the  mountain  is 
narrow,  owing  to  the  steep  dips  of  the  rocks. 

Good  blue  limestone,  somewhat  fossiliferous,  is  opened 
in  several  quarries  north  of  the  village,  and  within  100  yards 
of  the  mountain  the  No.  Ill  slates  appear,  black  and  shiny, 
polished  by  the  excessive  pressure  exerted  on  the  rocks 
here  by  the  uplifting  of  the  anticlinal  to  the  south  and  lead- 
ing to  frequent  expenditure  of  money  under  the  idea  of 
finding  coal. 

South  of  the  village,  magnesian  limestone  interstratitied 
with  the  common  sandstone  strata  outcrops  with  a  dip  of 
S.  40°,  E.  50°-60°,  just  north  of  the  Butler  ore  bank. 

Sand  ridge  is  very  knobby  and  considerably  broken  up 
and  shows  a  double  crest  line. 

The  north,  or  terrace  ridge,  is  made  up  of  a  blue,  flaggy 
sandstone,  distinctly  bedded  and  very  hard,  while  the 
south  ridge  is  flat  and  regular  and  shows  nothing  but  loose 
white  sand.  All  the  irregularities  of  contour  occur  in  the 
north  ridge. 

The  blue  rock  is  regularly  interstratitied  in  beds  of  mag- 


GEOLOGICAL  STRUCTURE.  T4.  37 

nesian  limestone  and  has  only  made  a  hill  by  reason  of  its 
superior  resisting  power  to  erosion. 

The  second  ridge  is  the  higher  and  shows  S.  E.  dips  of 
only  20°-25°  along  its  southern  flank. 

The  ore  horizon  4  miles  east,  mentioned  in  the  Madison- 
burg  Gap  section,  is  continuous  here  through  the  Hecla, 
Yoneda  and  Schwartz  mines — all  referable  to  distinctly 
limestone  strata  which  dip  30°-40°  S.  E.  towards  Nittany 
mountain. 

To  the  south,  along  Little  Fishing  creek,  the  dark  blue 
Trenton  layers  come  in,  weathering  to  a  reddish  soil,  and 
succeeded  in  turn  by  the  Hudson  River  Slates  of  No.  Ill, 
which  again  have  been  extensively  opened  for  coal  in  Henry 
Brown's  tract  and  several  hundred  tons  of  worthless  stuff 
thrown  out. 

A  coal  company  was  actually  organized  in  Hublersburg  to 
develop  this  field  and  a  large  acreage  obtained  for  further 
development. 

It  is  but  another  illustration  of  the  failure  attending  all 
these  "coal  enterprises"  in  other  parts  of  the  county  in  the 
same  rocks  where  coal  has  been  searched  for  15,000  feet  be- 
low its  proper  horizon. 

The  slate  dips  40°  S.  E.  succeeded  by  the  sand  rock  of 
Nittany  mountain. 

(3.)  Hecla  Furnace  Section.  Three  miles  further  west 
another  section  may  be  obtained  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Hecla  Furnace  Gap  in  Nittany  mountain. 

Back  of  the  site  of  the  old  furnace  in  the  gap  of  the  Lit- 
tle Fishing  creek,  the  outer  sandstone  is  dipping  52°  to  the 
south-east,  followed  southwards  by  dips  of  42°  and  40°  in 
the  Medina  red  and  white  sandstones  in  Rag  and  Green 
valleys. 

To  the  north  of  the  old  furnace  blue  limestone  dips  only 
25°-30°  along  the  Zion  or  South  road. 

The  valley,  between  Nittany  mountain  and  Sand  Ridge, 
is  very  even,  owing  to  the  absence  of  the  deeply  grooved 
trough  of  Little  Fishing  creek  and  the  gradual  subsidence 
of  the  Nittany  valley  axis. 

About  |  miles  from  the  furnace,  blue  siliceous  rock  was 


38  T4 


Plate  V. 


//I//  J 


///=§/ 


YI 


GEOLOGICAL  STRUCTURE.  T*.  39 

formerly  quarried  for  paving  flagstones,  dipping  40°  S.  30° 
E.  near  McKinney's  Ore  Bank — which  marks  the  exten- 
sion of  the  ore  range  south  of  the  Barrens.  The  rocks, 
chiefly  non-calcareous,  dip  22°  to  the  south. 

In  the  Dan-ah  bank,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Ridge,  the 
same  blue  siliceous  magnesian  limestones  outcrop  promi- 
nently in  bold  cliffs  and  ledges,  dipping  20°  to  25°  info  the 
ridge.  This  is  something  over  a  mile  from  the  Bald  Eagle 
mountains. 

Along  the  North  road,  siliceous  and  semi-magnesian  lime- 
stones stand  nearly  vertical,  showing  dips  between  Jackson- 
ville and  Bellefonte  of  85°,  83°,  70°,  83°,  80°,  and  88°  to  the 
south,  and  85°,  88°,  60°,  65°,  and  76°  to  the  north. 

It  is  uncertain  which  of  these  dips  are  overturned  and 
which  are  regular,  but  the  anticlinal  evidently  begins  to 
right  itself  after  passing  into  Spring  township. 

The  north  half  of  the  valley,  north  of  the  ridge,  is,  in  its 
general  character,  strikingly  different  from  the  southern 
portion.  It  is  greatly  grooved  and  broken,  while  the  other 
is  comparatively  level,  owing  to  the  superior  erosion  along 
vertical  strata  as  compared  with  that  in  rocks  dipping  only 
20°  to  30°. 

(4.)  Bellefonte  Section.  This  is  decidedly  the  best  section 
of  the  Palaeozoic  rocks  that  can  be  obtained  in  the  county, 
and  the  measured  profile  of  the  country  presented  in  the 
general  section  from  II  to  XIII  on  the  colored  map  will 
show  the  relative  position  of  the  formations.  Part  of  it  is 
repeated  on  page  plate  3. 

The  section  line  crosses  comparatively  uneven  ground, 
but  owing  to  the  sinking  of  the  Barrens  4  miles  to  the  east, 
no  regular  ridge  is  encountered  between  the  Bald  Eagle  and 
Nittany  mountains. 

The  sand  rocks  of  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain  dip  regularly 
to  the  N.  W.,  forming  the  double  crested  mountain  north 
of  Bellefonte  with  slopes  to  N.  W.  of  70°-80°. 

South  of  these  the  slates  dip  about  50°  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, their  steep  dip  carrying  them  well  up  the  mountain 
flank.  The  No.  II  blue  fossiliferous  Trenton  limestone 
about  600  feet  thick  succeeds  on  the  south  with  similar 


40  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

dips,  made  up  of  massive  and  thin-bedded  limestones,  fine- 
grained and  distinctly  laminated  and  tilled  with  character- 
istic fossils. 

Blue  compact  limestone  with  some  siliceous  bands  is 
largely  quarried  in  Alexander1  s  and  Morris'  quarries  on  both 
sides  of  Spring  creek  north  of  the  town  ;  succeeded  below 
the  Presbyterian  church  by  magnesian  limestones,  banded 
and  considerably  broken  by  cleavage,  and  containing  cherty 
masses.  Its  color  is  decidedly  whiter  than  that  of  the  higher 
limestones. 

These  same  measures  continue  south  of  the  town,  all  of  a 
sandy  nature  and  exhibiting  numerous  cross-fractures  for 
nearly  a  mile  south  along  the  Centre  Hall  turnpike.  The 
average  dip  is  about  50°  N.  W.,  though  local  dips  varying 
from  30°-60°  are  frequently  met  with. 

The  arch  itself,  one  mile  south  of  the  town,  is  very  gentle, 
with  dips  each  way  of  only  about  9°. 

From  there  the  same  series  of  rocks  already  mentioned 
appear  with  south-east  dips  of  30°,  20°,  12°,  and  10°  into 
Nittany  mountain. 

There  are  but  few  exposures  of  the  Hudson  river  slate  and 
Oneida  sandstone  rocks  in  Pleasant  Gap,  though  a  vast 
amount  of  loose  rock  and  boulders.  The  middle  or  red 
Medina  member  of  No.  IV  however,  shows  dips  of  20°-30° 
to  S.  E.,  with  north  dips  of  60-70°,  in  the  other  side  of  the 
synclinal  showing  how  the  plane  of  the  basin  inclines  north- 
wards. 

(5.)  Fillmore-Boals'burg  Section  across  the  whole  valley. 

This  section,  6  miles  further  west,  and  about  £  mile  west 
of  the  end  of  Nittany  mountain,  is  about  8  miles  long  from 
mountain  to  mountain,  and  crosses  the  three  prominent 
structural  features  of  the  county,  viz:  1.  Nittany  valley 
anticlinal;  2.  Nittany  mountain  synclinal;  3.  Penn's  val- 
ley anticlinal. 

About  f  miles  north  of  Fillmore  on  the  .Buffalo  run  road 
the  edge  of  the  Hudson  river  slates  appears,  the  slate  dip- 
ping 70°  N.  W.  into  Bald  Eagle  mountain. 

The  blue  Trenton  limestones  follow  to  the  south  with 
equal  dips.  But  the  inclination  diminishes  so  rapidly  to 


GEOLOGICAL  STRUCTURE.  T4.  41 

the  southward  that  on  the  Buffalo  run  road  at  the  village 
it  is  only  15°-20°. 

Finally,  half  mile  further  south  in  the  Crust  farm,  siliceous 
limestone  forms  the  gentle  anticlinal  arch  with  dips  of  only 
about  6°,  marking  the  gradual  rise  westward  of  the  anti- 
clinal in  Chestnut  Ridge. 

This  arch,  it  may  be  remarked,  is  very  well  seen  on  Spring 
creek,  about  a  mile  south  of  Roopsburg,  where  it  shows 
dips  of  10°-12°  to  the  north  and  south. 

Passing  south  from  the  elevated  ground  south  of  Fill- 
more,  the  section  line  passes  into  College  township,  where, 
in  the  Big  Hollow  N.  W.  of  Houserville,  it  meets  a  fatter 
limestone  dipping  10°,  15°,  18°,  16°  and  finally  30°  (?)  south- 
east in  the  Puddington  ore  banks. 

Good  limestone  beds"  appear  along  Slab  Cabin  run  and 
Spring  creek,  dipping  S.  60°  E.  15°-20°,  marking  the  shoal- 
ing of  the  Nittany  synclinal. 

The  Nittany  synclinal  crosses  Spring  creek  south  of  Dale's 
Mills,  swings  northwards  until  again  well  exposed  south  of 
the  Agricultural  College,  the  slates  swinging  around  the 
mountain's  end. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  synclinal  the  Trenton  limestones 
dip  steeply  toward  it  50°-60°  N.  20°  W. 

Prolonging  the  section  south,  siliceous  rocks  are  again 
brought  up  by  the  Penn's  valley  anticlinal  about  \  mile 
south  of  the  slates,  dipping  48°  N.  W. 

The  dip  soon  changes  to  8°-12°  S.  E.,  placing  the  Brush 
valley  axis  about  a  mile  north  of  Boalsburg. 

The  south  dip  increases  to  20°  and  30°  before  the  lime- 
stones finally  pass  beneath  the  slate  and  sandstone  of  Tus- 
sey  mountain. 

(6.)  The  section  across  the  western  end  of  the  county, 
through  Half  Moon  and  Ferguson  townships,  has  already 
been  described.  (See  page  34  and  page  plate  IV.) 

The  ore  banks  of  this  district  are  numerous  and  extensive 
and  will  be  mentioned  hereafter. 

The  limestones  of  upper  Buffalo  Run  valley  all  dip  steeply, 
and  are  either  vertical  or  overturned  with  angles  of  70°-SO° 


42  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

to  S.  E.  The  anticlinals  produce  a  rolling  country  of  Bar- 
rens to  be  succeeded  finally  on  the  south  by  good  blue 
limestone  along  the  Whitehall  road,  all  dipping  S.  E.  into 
the  Tussey  mountain  at  angles  of  20°-40°  and  showing  no 
evidence  of  the  Brush  Valley  anticlinal  which  has  expired 
to  the  east. 

Anticlinal  Axis  of  Brush  Valley.  This  axis  crosses  the 
Susquehanna  river  near  New  Columbia  and  westward  passes 
through  the  high  spur  of  "Sand  Mountain"  in  Union 
county,  in  the  sand  rocks  of  No.  IV.  Passing  still  west- 
ward and  curving  gently  but  steadily  southward,  it  enters 
Centre  county  in  Miles  township,  at  the  head  of  the  long 
cove  in  which  Brush  valley  commences. 

Steadily  rising  as  it  passes  westward  it  brings  up  the 
Trenton  limestones  of  II  about  4£  miles  from  the  Union 
county  line  near  M.  Rudy's  mill. 

Keeping  to  the  north  side  of  the  narrow  valley,  closer  to 
Nittany  than  Brush  mountain,  it  passes  to  the  north  of 
Rebersburg  and  Madisonburg,  crosses  the  valley  road  about 
H  miles  west  of  the  latter  place  with  north  dips  of  65°-70° 
and  south  dips  of  15°-20°  and  passes  just  north  of  Penn's 
valley  cave,  where  it  throws  off  dips  of  70°  to  the  north 
and  45°-50°  south,  in  good  soft  french  gray  limestones. 

From  here  the  Brush  valley  road  practically  marks  the 
course  of  the  axis  to  the  Watson  ore  bank,  attaining  its 
greatest  elevation  in  the  neighborhood  of  Centre  Hall  where 
consequently  the  lowest  limestones  in  the  valley  are  ex- 
posed. 

This  axis  however  nowhere  brings  up  the  same  thickness 
of  No.  II  as  is  exposed  in  Nittany  valley,  not  over  2500  feet 
being  shown  in  the  general  section  across  the  county,  and 
this  fact  will  account  for  the  comparative  poverty  of  this 
valley  in  iron  ore  deposits,  much  being  buried  beneath  the 
present  surface. 

Moreover  the  steep  dip  of  the  measures  along  this  valley 
as  far  as  Centre  Hall  at  least,  has  hastened  erosion,  the 
higher  ore  bearing  strata  having  been  carried  off  the  arch. 

Consequently  as  the  valley  widens  and  the  axis  sinks 
westAvard,  owing  to  the  subsidence  of  the  Brush  mountain 


GEOLOGICAL  STRUCTURE.  T4.  43 

synclinal,  the  higher  ore  bearing  rocks  are  preserved  by 
reason  of  gentler  dips,  so  that  we  find  their  ores  intact  in 
the  Watson,  Ross,  Stover  and  other  mines. 

The  axis  crosses  Spring  creek  about  1£  miles  south  of  Le- 
mon t,  showing  dips  of  48°  N.  W.  and  12°  S.  E.,  the  latter 
flattening  to  8°  opposite  Boalsburg,  west  of  which  meridian 
the  axis  rapidly  expires  before  reaching  the  base  of  Tussey 
mountain. 

Anticlinal  of  Penri  s  Valley. — The  main  or  north  anti- 
clinal of  Penn's  Valley  crosses  the  Susqnehanna  above 
Lewisburg,  and  after  passing  through  the  Buffalo  valley 
and  mountain  in  Union  county,  enters  the  slates  of  Pine 
Creek  Hollow  between  Brush  and  Stone  mountains  in  Cen- 
tre county,  and  4  miles  further  south-west  lifts  up  the 
Siluro-Cambrian  limestone  at  Hosterman's  saw-mill. 

The  axis  in  its  course  from  the  Union  county  line  into  the 
cove  in  Tussey' s  mountain,  nowhere  shows  the  same  amount 
of  northern  curvature  as  was  developed  by  the  Brush  valley 
axis.  But  while  this  is  true  as  a  whole,  this  axis  develops 
several  striking  curves  in  that  distance. 

Keeping  to  the  north  side  of  the  valley,  the  first  part  of 
its  course  as  far  as  Aaronsburg,  shows  no  special  features. 

One  mile  east  of  that  village  it  crosses  the  Woodward 
road  with  dips  in  siliceous  limestone  of  N.  25°  W.  68°  and 
S.  35°  E.  40°.  Passing  thence  through  Aaronsburg  and 
throwing  off  northerly  dips  of  60°  and  southerly  ones  of 
35°-40°,  it  deflects  sharply  to  the  S.  W.,  crossing  the  Mill- 
heim-Coburn  pike  about  ^  miles  south  of  the  first  named 
village. 

North  of  the  axis,  dips  of  70°,  64°,  and  80°  N.  W.  bring 
us  to  the  edge  of  No.  Ill,  while  south  inclinations  of  only 
12°,  20°  and  30°  were  observed. 

From  here  the  axis  bends  again  northwards,  keeping  a 
nearly  due  west  course  to  the  German  Reformed  Church,  1 
mile  north-east  of  Penn  Hall. 

At  this  point  the  axis  is  not  half  a  mile  north  of  the  edge 
of  the  Egg  Hill  slates. 

It  passes  north  of  Spring  Mills  with  N.  W.  dip  of  60°  and 
S.  E.  ones  of  20°-22°  and  then  takes  about  the  center  of  the 


44  T.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS 

valley  at  its  Perm's  Creek  crossing,  where  it  is  exposed  in 
a  gentle  arch  of  10°-15°. 

About  two  miles  west  it  attains  its  greatest  vertical  eleva- 
tion and  crosses  the  Bellefonte  and  Lewistown  pike  about 
1|  miles  south  of  Centre  Hall  and  the  same  distance  north 
of  the  No.  Ill  slates  along  Egg  Hill. 

The  country  here  is  elevated,  and  shows  a  broad  plateau. 
The  arch  subsides  rapidly  from  here  and  deflects  strongly 
S.  W.  into  the  indentation  in  Tussey  mountain,  2  miles 
south  of  Linden  Hall. 

Anticinal  Axis  of  Penn's  Valley  Narrows.  This  wave 
shows  less  curvature  and  less  vertical  rise  between  its  ex- 
tremities and  center  than  any  of  those  previously  described  ; 
for  dying  away  at  both  ends  in  the  Clinton  formation  in 
Union  and  Huntingdon  counties,  it  barely  lifts  to  the  sur- 
face the  upper  Siluro-Cambrian  limestones  of  No.  II  in 
Penn's  Valley  narrows  and  George's  valley. 

Entering  the  county  in  the  east  in  the  narrow  plain  of 
III  between  Short  mountain  and  the  Seven  mountains  on 
the  south,  it  first  brings  up  the  Trenton  limestones  about  1£ 
miles  east  of  Woodward. 

Bending  slightly  northwards,  while'keeping  a  course  gen- 
erally parallel  to  the  Seven  mountains,  it  ranges  about  1£ 
miles  south  of  Aaronsburg  with  sharp  dips  of  70°  N.  W. 
and  60°  S.  E. 

It  is  next  seen  on  the  Millheim  pike  with  inclinations 
each  way  of  40°-48°  and  attains  its  greatest  elevation  about 
2  miles  further  west,  throwing  off  dips  of  70°  N.  W.  and 
50°  S.  E.  From  this  point  the  arch  begins  to  subside,  the 
south-east  dips  only  showing  10°-20°,  and  deflecting  S.  W., 
the  axis  keeps  the  north  side  of  George's  valley  close  to  the 
south  base  of  Egg  hill.  At  Potter's  Mills  the  arch  is  greatly 
contracted  again,  showing  dips  along  branch  of  Sinking 
creek  of  85°  N.  W.  and  70°-80°  S.  E. 

The  limestones  finally  sink  under  the  slate  of  III  in  "The 
Loop"  4  miles  west  of  Potter's  Mills,  the  axis  ranging 
through  the  slate  valley  and  passing  through  the  terrace 
and  knob  of  Tussey  mountain  at  the  "Bear  Meadows," 
dying  west  in  Huntingdon  county. 


GEOLOGICAL  STRUCTURE.  T4.  45 

The  Confer  or  Decker  Valley  Anticlinal.  This  short 
axis  while  showing  the  same  general  northern  inclination 
of  curvature  at  its  center  as  explained  in  the  former  ones, 
is  of  meagre  relative  importance,  only  having  been  of  suf- 
ficient force  to  bring  up  the  Hudson  river  slate  of  III  in 
the  Confer  or  Decker  valley  in  Gregg  and  Potter  townships 
and  the  same  in  the  small  oval  "Lechathal"  or  Lick  valley 
watered  by  Penn's  creek  and  Swift  run  in  the  lower  part 
of  Haines. 

Entering  the  county  in  southern  Haines,  south  of  the 
little  Clinton  red  shale  valley  of  V,  it  ranges  successively 
through  the  upper,  middle  and  lower  members  of  IV  in  the 
first  2£  miles  of  its  course,  finally  lifting  up  the  slate  in  the 
small  "Lechathal"  valley.  Passing  north  of  Fowler's 
station  on  the  L.  &  T.  R.  R.  this  sharp  arch  throws  off  60° 
dips  south  of  Beaver  Dam  tunnel  and  dies  thence  under  a 
vast  sand  flat  of  Oneida  sandstone  between  the  western 
extremity  of  this  valley  and  the  eastern  end  of  Confer' s 
valley  4  miles  apart.  Here  the  anticlinal  again  brings  up 
the  slate  of  III  with  dips  of  600-7()°  at  the  M.  E.  Church, 
keeping  the  north  side  of  that  valley  for  7£  miles,  when  it 
again  carries  down  the  slate  under  the  Oneida  sandstones 
of  the  resulting  kettle,  finally  passing  out  of  the  county  in 
southern  Harris  between  the  white  Medina  ridges  of  Thick 
Head  and  Bald  mountain. 

Poe  Valley  Anticlinal  Axis.  This,  the  last  of  the  anticlinal 
axes  of  the  county,  has  a  length  of  only  about  15  miles  before 
passing  into  Union  and  Mifflin  counties  at  its  extremities. 

It,  like  its  predecessor  to  the  north,  only  brings  up  the 
slates  of  III  in  Poe  valley,  a  drawn-out,  oval-shaped  depres- 
sion in  the  heart  of  the  Seven  mountains  8  miles  long  from 
east  to  west. 

It  is  much  straighter  than  the  Confer  valley  axis  and 
while  it  is  1£  miles  south  of  it  in  Gregg  township  its  two 
extremities  nearly  lap  with  those  of  the  northern  axis. 

It  is  insignificant  in  its  results,  lying  everywhere  along 
the  north  base  of  Paddy's  mountain,  which  it  divides  on  the 
west  from  Bald  mountain  spur  seen  rising  west  of  the  Lew- 
istown  pike  where  the  Mifflin  county  line  is  offset. 


46  T.        UEPORT  OF  PKOGRESS.      E.  V.  D' INVILLIEKS. 

The  structure  of  the  northern  half  of  the  county— north 
of  the  centrally  dividing  Bald  Eagle  mountains— is  ex- 
tremely simple,  as  a  glance  at  the  cross  section  of  the  county 
will  show.  From  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain  northward  the 
rocks  all  dip  one  way  (northward) ;  at  first  so  steep  as  to 
be  vertical ;  then  less  and  less  steep  until  they  lie  nearly 
quite  flat,  at  the  top  of  the  Allegheny  mountain,  where  the 
lower  Productive  Coal  Measures  of  the  Snow  Shoe-Beech 
Creek  basin  come  in. 

This  forms  the  First  Coal  Basin  of  Clearfield  county  and 
the  synclinal  axis  or  line  of  deepest  measures  passes  ap- 
proximately north  of  the  Hogback  in  Curtin  township — 
thence  along  Beech  creek  to  Gray's  Splash  dam  and  thence 
a  little  south  of  west  through  Sugar  Camp  hill,  Holt's  and 
Askey's  hills  to  the  Moshannon,  crossing  which  it  extends 
north  of  Peale  in  an  approximate  line  with  the  Morrisdale- 
Philipsburg-Osceola  trough.  (See  Report  HT.) 

Like  the  flexures  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  this 
trough  rises  and  falls  in  the  line  of  its  strike,  alternately  lift- 
ing into  the  air  and  burying  its  coal  beds. 

On  the  opposing  dip  the  coal  beds  gradually  rise  north- 
wards on  to  the  First  or  Laurel  Hill-Pine  Glen-Hyner  anti- 
clinal axis  in  Burnside  township,  which  creates  the  dividing 
line  between  the  First  or  Snow  Shoe  basin  and  the  Second 
or  Karthaus  basin. 

This  axis  is  partially  indicated  on  the  county  map  as  far 
as  traceable  and  is  undoubtedly  identical  with  the  first  axis 
of  Clearfield  county. 

It  will  be  referred  to  in  detail  in  the  chapter  on — "The 
Coal  Measures."  It  will  suffice  here  to  say,  that  entering 
Burnside  township  from  Clinton  county,  where  it  attains 
its  greatest  elevation  and  brings  up  the  lowest  members  of 
XII,  it  rapidly  declines  south-westward  until  at  crossing 
the  Karthaus  pike  about  1£  miles  south  of  Boak's  Pine 
Glen  store,  it  apparently,  exposes  on  its  flattened  arch  the 
buff-colored  Clarion  sandstone  and  allows  the  lowest  coal 
A  of  the  series  to  swing  over  the  axis  and  join  the  deposit 
of  the  Second  basin. 

As  far  west  as  P.  Etter's,  this  axis  is  marked  by  a  bold 


GEOLOGICAL  STRUCTURE.  T4.  47 

Conglomerate  hill  and  forms  a  practically  straight  line. 
But  beyond  this  point — except  along  the  Karthaus  road — 
its  position  and  course  are  doubtful,  and  it  is  quite  probable 
that  it  curves  southward  slightly  to  account  for  the  jog  no- 
ticed on  the  Trullinger  lands  near  the  headwaters  of  Cherry 
and  Sandy  runs. 

West  of  the  Karthaus  pike  the  lower  coal  measures  ex- 
tend for  some  distance  out  towards  the  Moshannon  until 
the  erosion  of  that  stream  has  cut  down  successively 
through  the  Conglomerate  of  XII,  the  Mauch  Chunk  Red 
Shale  of  XI  and  even  to  the  Pocono  Sandstone  of  X. 

At  the  same  time  that  this  axis  is  pitching  to  the  south- 
west and  continually  bringing  in  higher  measures,  the  ero- 
sion of  the  West  Branch  Susquehanna  is  in  the  opposite 
direction,  so  that  proceeding  down  stream  lower  rocks  are 
continually  being  exposed  along  its  course  and  confining 
the  coal  measures  of  the  second  basin  in  Centre  county  to 
a  stretch  of  about  3£  miles  between  Karthaus  Landing  and 
Spruce  Run. 


The  mountains  of  the  county  contained  between  the  an- 
ticlinal valleys  described  above  are,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Allegheny  and  Bald  Eagle,  of  synclinal  structure. 

The  first  synclinal  is  that  of  Nittany  Mountain,  south 
of  the  main  Nittany  valley  which,  for  convenience  sake, 
may  be  made  to  include  all  the  mountain  land  between  Nit. 
tany  and  Brush  valleys,  and  embracing  also  the  expiring 
anticlinal  of  Sugar  valley. 

The  south-west  termination  of  this  system  is  in  the  Oneida 
terrace  mountain  of  IV  gray  sandstone  at  Lemont.  Traced 
east,  it  soon  becomes  a  double  mountain  with  the  rocks  of 
the  two  prongs  dipping  towards  each  other  and  including 
between  them  an  elevated  red  shale  and  sandstone  valley 
of  lower  Medina  IV.  This  is  just  west  of  McBride's  Gap. 

At  the  Centre  Hall  turnpike  the  ridges  are  about  one  mile 
apart,  and  just  about  £  mile  to  the  east  they  receive  between 
them  the  central  keel  or  inner  mountain  of  white  Medina, 


48  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

the  upper  member  of  IV,  on  which  the  outer  mountains  of 
Oneida  form  opposite  terraces. 

About  1£  miles  east  of  the  Hecla  Gap  road,  the  central 
Nittany  mountain  divides  in  turn  to  enclose  ''Little  Sugar 
Valley"  or  Pheasant  Valley.  The  south  branch  extends 
as  far  east  as  a  point  north  of  Rebersburg. 

The  north  branch,  called  locally  v'Big  Mountain,"  forms 
the  N.  W.  barrier  to  Pheasant  valley,  and  is  deeply  cut  at 
the  Madisonburg  (Johnson)  gap  and  the  Washington  Fur- 
nace or  Big  Fishing  creek  gap  in  Clinton  county. 

Pheasant  Valley,  containing  the  Clinton  shales  and  sand- 
stone of  V,  is  about  a  mile  wide  from  summit  to  summit  in 
this  county,  succeeded  south  by  the  anticlinal  of  Sugar 
valley,  which,  expiring  about  1  mile  west  of  Madisonburg 
pike,  only  brings  up  the  Oneida  sandstone  in  this  county. 

To  the  east  in  Clinton  county  the  slate  of  III  and  the 
upper  limestones  of  II  are  both  elevated  to  daylight  as 
shown  on  map. 

The  north  dips  in  these  mountain  members  are  always 
much  steeper  than  the  south  ones,  so  that  the  plane  of  the 
synclinal  axis  inclines  south-east  to  the  horizon. 

Brush  Mountain  Synclinal  to  the  south,  dividing  Brush 
valley  from  Penn's  valley,  is  a  long  and  straight  synclinal 
ridge  of  Medina  white  sandstone,  extending  from  the  Union 
county  line  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  road  crossing 
from  Rebersburg  to  Aaronsburg. 

The  terrace  mountain  of  IV  gray  Oneida  sandstone  how- 
ever, runs  on  much  further  west,  beautifully  gapped  north 
of  Millheim  by  Elk  creek,  extending  as  a  double  line  of  high 
and  rugged  hills  to  the  high  knob  or  kettle  south  of  Penn's 
Cave  in  Gregg  township,  and  between  the  two  lies  a  high 
and  wooded  vale  of  the  middle  IV  red  Medina  ending  near 
the  Penn  and  Gregg  corner. 

The  south  terrace  ridge  of  Brush  mountain  unites  with 
the  north  terrace  ridge  of  the  next  synclinal  of  Short  mount- 
ain in  Union  county,  forming  a  high  knob  and  closing  up 
Penn's  valley  in  Pine  Creek  hollow. 

This  mountain  is  a  synclinal  triple  ridge,  rising  from  the 
floor  of  Peun's  Valley  north-east  of  Woodward  in  Haines 


GEOLOGICAL  STKUCTUKE.  T4.  49 

township,  and  divides  the  Penn's  creek  narrows  from  the 
Pine  Creek  hollow. 

Its  central  keel  of  white  Medina  just  shows  in  this  county, 
its  two  branches  uniting  in  the  high  spur  known  as  the 
"Hind  Knob,"  dividing  eastward  and  known  as  Stone 
mountain.  The  terrace  ridge  extends  2  miles  further  west 
and  ends  in  the  "  Round  Head,"  and  is  breached  by  several 
tributaries  of  Pine  creek. 

The  Seven  mountains  and  Tussey 's  mountain,  as  their 
continuation  towards  the  south-west  is  known,  form  the  main 
south  barrier  to  the  numerous  limestone  valleys  of  the  coun- 
ty, of  which  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain  is  the  north  barrier. 

Several  nearly  parallel  ridges  of  Oneida  and  Medina  SS., 
forming  together  an  elevated  plateau  2000'-|-  A.  T.,  separate 
the  limestone  valley  of  the  Kishacoquillas  on  the  S.  E.  from 
the  Penn's  valley  region  on  the  N.  W.  in  this  county. 

On  the  Lewistown  and  Bellefonte  turnpike  these  ridges 
number  seven,  four  of  which  are  contained  in  Centre  county. 
An  inspection  of  the  colored  county  map  and  cross-section 
will  better  show  the  relationship  they  bear  to  each  other 
and  to  the  Poe  and  Confer  Valley  anticlinal  flexures. 

The  depressions  between  these  ridges  are  made  up  of  the 
middle  or  red  Medina  member  of  IV,  making  Foust's  and 
Triester's  valleys,  while  the  slates  of  III  are  brought  up  in 
Confer  or  Decker  valley. 

Numerous  sections  across  this  belt  of  mountains  have 
been  made  from  the  barometrical  contour  map  of  Mr.  Chas. 
E.  Billin,  and  the  detailed  structure  of  the  system  can  be 
readily  learned  from  them.  (See  Report  S.) 

The  cross-section  of  the  county  sufficiently  illustrates  their 
structure  for  all  purposes  in  this  report,  as  well  as  their 
connection  with  the  rocks  of  Brush  Nittany  and  Bald 
Eagle  mountains. 

The  SeventJi  or  most  northern  mountain  of  the  group, 
lying  south  of  George's  valley,  when  traced  west  forms  the 
inside  of  the  Loop,  sweeps  around  its  north  edge  to  form 
Tussey  knob,  and  continues  S.  W.  as  the  terrace  of  the  main 
Tussey  mountain  of  white  Medina. 
4T4. 


50  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

The  Bare  or  "Bear"  meadows  lie  in  the  hollow  between 
this  wall  and  the  inner  kettle  of  white  Medina,  and  cover 
the  middle  or  red  Medina  rocks  at  the  head  of  Sinking 
creek. 

George' s  Valley  anticlinal  cuts  off  the  synclinal  fragment 
of  Oneida  sandstone  in  Egg  Hill  from  the  main  body  of  the 
formation  in  the  Seven  mountains  ;  but  its  synclinal  trough 
of  No.  Ill  slates  coalesces  with  those  extending  east  from 
Tussey  knob. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Coal  Measures. 

The  Coal  Measures  are  confined  to  the  four  northern 
townships  of  the  county,  which  maybe  described  together. 
The  Carboniferous  Formation  in  Western  Pennsylvania 
consists  of 

Upper  Barren  (Permian)  Measures. 
Upper  Productive  Coal  Measures. 
Barren  Measures. 
Lower  Productive  Coal  Measures. 

In  Centre  county  only  the  Lower  Productive  Coal  Mea- 
sures, 280-300  feet  thick,  has  escaped  erosion. 
This  group  comprises  :  — 

Barren  Measures  (Mahoning  sandstone,  shale,  etc.). 
E.  Freeport  Upper  Coal. 

Freeport  Upper  Limestone 
D.  Freeport  Lower  Coal. 
Freeport  Lower  Limestone 
Freeport  Sandstone. 
C'.  Kittanning  Upper  Coal. 
Johnstown  Cement  Bed. 
Gorman  coal  bed. 
C.  Kittanning  Middle  Coal. 
B.  Kittanning  Lower  Coal. 
Ferriferous  Limestone. 
A'.  Clarion  Coal. 
A.  BrooTcmlle  Coal. 
No.  XII.  Pottsmlle  Conglomerate. 

Some  few  patches  of  the  Barren  measures  still  remain  on 
the  highest  summits  to  mark  the  former  outspread  of  this 

(51  T*.) 


52  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  T.  D' INVILLIERS. 

division,  but  these  cases  are  rare,  and  where  preserved,  are 
only  so  in  part. 

The  Pottsville  (Serai)  Conglomerate  No.  XII,  forms  the 
crest  of  the  Allegheny  mountain  south  of  Snow  Shoe,  and 
is  made  up  at  that  point  of  about  255'  of  massive  gray  sand- 
stones, with  some  layers  of  rounded  white  quartz  pebbles  of 
various  sizes  from  a  pea  to  an  egg. 

On  account  of  the  gentle  dip  to  the  north-west  no  coal 
outcrop  of  any  consequence  is  seen  for  3  miles  north-west  of 
the  summit. 

One  and  a  half  miles  south-east  of  Snow  Shoe  village  the 
conglomerate  shows  on  the  surface  in  lumps  and  boulders. 

Proceeding  north  of  the  village  the  successive  coal  beds 
come  in  on  a  north-west  dip,  the  highest  beds  being  coniined 
to  Lucas  and  Coal  hills  south  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad. 

Crossing  the  north  fork  of  Beech  creek  and  the  new  line 
of  the  Beech  Creek,  deal-field  and  South- Western  Railroad, 
the  basin  line  of  this  field  passes  through  Askey,  Holt  and 
Sugar  Camp  hills,  and  thence  a  little  north  of  east  through 
the  Beech  creek  region.  North  of  this  line  the  measures 
are  all  dipping  in  the  opposite  direction  or  south-east,  and 
at  about  equal  angles  and  rising  towards  the  first  anticlinal 
axis  known  locally  as  the  Pine  Glen  axis  in  Burnside  town- 
ship. 

This  axis  is  identical  with  the  Laurel  hill  axis  of  Clearfield 
and  Cambria  counties  on  the  west  and  the  Hyner  axis  of 
Clinton  county,  dividing  the  Philipsburg-Snow  Shoe-Beech 
creek  First  basin  from  the  Karthaus  or  Second  basin. 

The  Snow  Shoe  basin  is  about  8  miles  wide  from  The  Al- 
legheny summit  to  the  First  axis,  though  only  about  one 
half  of  that  is  occupied  by  the  coal  measures. 

In  addition  to  the  inclination  of  the  measures  towards  a 
central  synclinal  line,  quite  as  important  a  feature,  influen- 
cing strongly  the  economical  wealth  of  the  district,  must 
not  be  lost  sight  of. 

This  is  the  fact  that  the  basin  rises  in  nearly  all  direc- 
tions from  its  center  between  the  Karthaus  pike  on  the  west 
and  Sugar  Camp  hill  on  the  east. 

The  rise  eastward  through   the  Beech  creek   region  is 


THE  GOAL  MEASURES.  T4.  53 

gradual  so  that  the  hills  between  the  numerous  branches  of 
Beech  creek  descending  from  the  high  land  in  Burnside 
township,  all  carry  small  interrupted  basins  of  the  lower 
beds  of  the  productive  coal  measures. 

These  small  basins  are  considerably  cut  up  and  hard  to 
mine  as  they  are  located  high  above  the  railroad.  So  like- 
wise on  the  west  patches,  of  the  lower  beds'  have  been  left 
on  the  tops  of  the  hills  between  Snow  Shoe  and  the  Clear- 
field  Bituminous  Coal  Co.'s  Tunnel  Mines  in  the  north-east 
corner  of  Rush  township.  But  these  patches  only  serve  to 
unite  the  coals  of  this  district  with  those  of  the  Philipsburg 
and  Osceola  basin  in  the  western  part  of  the  same  town- 
ship. The  darkest  tint  on  the  county  map — indicating  the 
horizon  of  the  Freeport  Lower  Coal  Bed  D — will  better  illus- 
trate this  feature. 

South  of  the  southern  outcrop  line  of  this  basin  in  Rush 
township  the  wide  spread  of  the  underlying  Conglomerate 
measures  will  attract  attention. 

The  limits  of  the  little  basin  south  of  Peale  on  the  line  of 
the  B.  C.,  C.  &  S.  W.  R.  R.  have  been  instrumen tally  de- 
fined. (See  page  54.)  The  dip  is  about  170'  to  the  mile, 
which  is  quite  sufficient  to  carry  the  coal  measures  into  the 
air  before  reaching  the  Little  Moshannon  creek  to  the  south. 

Moreover  there  is  no  ground  high  enough  here  to  catch 
these  coals,  though  it  is  possible  that  the  low  ridge  north 
of  Antes  may  indicate  a  local  anticlinal  roll,  though  no 
coal  appears  on  its  back  so  far  as  my  examinations  permit 
me  to  judge. 

South  of  Antes,  however,  along  public  road  to  Beaver 
Mills,  there  are  outcrops  of  slate  apparently  dipping  south- 
east but  succeeded  by  north-west  dips  in  the  same  before 
reaching  Underwood's  Mill. 

This  may  indicate  a  narrow  trough  and  lend  some  color- 
ing to  the  report  of  a  coal  field  along  the  upper  waters  of 
Six  Mile  run. 

The  whole  region,  however,  has  been  colored  in  as  No. 
XII,  and  the  basin,  if  existing  at  all,  is  of  local  interest 
only  and  of  no  commercial  value  whatever. 


54  T. 


Plate  VI. 


THE  COAL  MEASURES.  T*.  55 

The  whole  region  demonstrates  the  cessation  of  rise  in  the 
first  basin,  however,  so  that  across  the  Moshannon  in  Clear- 
field  county  north  of  Peale  we  are  prepared  to  find  the 
country  covered  with  the  lower  beds  of  the  coal  measures 
until  the  basin,  again  deepening  at  Morrisdale,  takes  in 
the  Freeport  lower  or  Moshannon  bed  and  carries  it  thence 
through  the  trough  of  the  First  basin  into  Cambria  county. 
(See  Report  H7.) 

As  may  be  readily  supposed  this  trough  line  is  by  no 
means  straight  and  varies  in  a  horizontal  as  well  as  vertical 
plane. 

So  it  may  be  traced  from  Morrisdale  east  in  a  nearly 
direct  line  north  of  Peale  to  the  Moshannon  creek  in  the 
vicinity  of  Weber  run  (Clearh'eld  Co.)  and  thence  through 
Moshannon  village  to  Snow  Shoe. 

West  from  Morrisdale  it  swings  through  Philipsburg  and 
north  of  Osceola  and  thence  by  way  of  Houtzdale  and  Utah- 
ville  into  Cambria  county. 

This  short  sketch  of  the  course  of  this  synclinal  is  rendered 
necessary  to  illustrate  the  cause  for  prevalent  north-west 
dips  to  the  Coal  measures  in  the  western  part  of  this  basin 
in  Centre  Co. 

Philipsburg,  like  Snow  Shoe,  is  the  center  of  this  depres- 
sion or  basin,  the  measures  rising  E.  and  W.  as  well  as 
keeping  their  .regular  dip  towards  the  synclinal  axis. 

Their  rise  there  carries  the  Freeport  lower  or  Moshannon 
bed  into  the  air  at  Morrisdale*  in  about  4  miles  and  a  similar 
result  would  have  been  recorded  south-west  were  it  not  for 
a  series  of  vertical  faults  through  the  Houtzdale  region,  the 
effect  of  which  has  been  to  retain  these  upper  beds  and  the 
overlying  barren  measures  through  a  vast  extent  of  terri- 
tory which  otherwise  would  have  been  long  since  robbed  of 
them  by  natural  erosion. 

While  the  absence  of  development  on  the  Centre  Co.  side 
of  this  basin  forbids  any  attempt  to  locate  them  or  measure 
them  with  the  same  accuracy  and  skill  as  has  been  possible 
in  the  more  largely  developed  Houtzdale  basin,  one  such 

*H7  Geology  of  Clearfleld  Co.,  by  Dr.  H.  M.  Chance. 


56  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  Y.  D'lNYILLIERS. 

apparently  exists  about  two  miles  south-west  of  Stirling 
No.  3  colliery  bringing  down  the  Mahoning  sandstone  to 
the  top  of  the  hill  on  west  side  of  small  creek,  while  on  the 
east  side,  the  shales  and  sandstones  between  the  Freeport 
coals  cover  the  surface. 

The  southern  limit  to  this  coal  basin  can  be  seen  by  refer- 
ring to  the  map.  It  will  be  noticed  that  from  the  Blair 
county  line  to  Sandy  Ridge  station  on  the  T.  &.  C.  R.  R. 
the  outcrop  is  practically  parallel  to  the  Allegheny  crest, 
which  is  here  made  up  of  a  rather  fine  white  sandstone 
devoid  of  large  pebbles. 

But  from  Sandy  Ridge  •  to  its  crossing  the  Moshannon 
creek  3  miles  north-east  of  Philipsburg,  this  declination  is 
changed  to  a  much  more  northerly  one,  passing  Cold  Stream 
about  2  miles  south  of  the  town  and  after  encircling  the  hill 
west  of  Black  Bear  run,  passes  into  Clearfield  county. 
This  change  is  indicated  by  the  course  of  the  basin  line  and 
may  be  further  explained  by  the  continuation  of  the  Antes 
roll  south-west  through  the  wilderness  of  Six  Mile  run  as 
far  as  the  old  Philipsburg — Port  Matilda  pike. 

The  course  of  the  Pine  Glen  axis  dividing  the  first  and 
second  basins  is  shown  on  the  map. 

Its  rise  from  the  Moshannon  north-east  into  Clinton 
county  has  produced  precisely  similar  effects  in  the  Kar- 
thaus  Second  basin  to  those  already  mentioned  in  the  Snow 
Shoe-Philipsburg  First  basin. 

Accordingly  we  find  Karthaus  Landing  occupying  the 
center  of  the  basin  from  which  the  coal  measures  rise  to 
the  east  against  the  pitch  and  are  carried  into  the  air  be- 
fore reaching  Spruce  creek. 

The  West  Branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  between  Karthaus 
and  Buttermilk  Falls,  practically  marks  the  synclinal 
trough  of  the  Second  basin.  The  axis  shifts  then  a  little 
northwards  and  confines  the  coal  measures  to  the  highest 
hill  tops  in  Clearfield  county. 

The  river  deepening  eastward  at  the  same  time  that  the 
rocks  are  pitching  westward  exposes  the  Mauch  Chunk  red 
shales  No.  XI  just  below  Salt  Lick  and  No.  X  Pocono 
measures  further  down  the  stream  as  shown  on  map. 


THE  COAL  MEASURES.  T.  57 

Though  the  erosion  of  the  river  has  made  the  hills  on. 
either  side  seem  sufficiently  high  to  catch  all  the  Lower 
Productive  Coal  Measures,  the  wearing  effect  is  now  entirely 
in  sub-carboniferous  measures,  and  no  coal  need  be  looked 
for  on  the  highlands  marked  by  the  Pine  Glen-Hyner  axis. 

I  cannot  say  that  the  Furney  axis  of  Clinton  county — 
occurring  south  of  the  Hyner  axis*  was  identified  anywhere 
through  the  Beech  Creek  region  unless  its  presence  has 
caused  that  outspread  of  the  coal  measures  south  through 
Curtin  township  which  the  map  reveals. 

In  all  probability  this  axis  has  died  as  an  independent 
arch  along  the  Centre-Clinton  county  line,  and  at  best  it 
is  only  a  slight  roll  in  Clinton  county  dividing  the  Wetham 
and  Eagleton  coals  from  those  of  Queen's  Run  and  Tang- 
ascootac  basin. 


With  this  short  generalization  of  the  prominent  features 
of  the  Centre  County  coal  fields,  I  now  proceed  to  record 
some  of  the  details  connected  with  the  various  coal  beds 
and  mine  openings  of  the  region. 

As  has  been  already  stated,  the  area  of  the  Barren  Meas- 
ures No.  XIV,  is  so  insignificant  as  not  to  warrant  any 
special  mention.  They  have  derived  their  name  from  the 
almost  universal  absence  in  them  of  persistent  productive 
coal  beds,  though  some  exceptional  instances  are  recorded 
in  the  various  State  reports  where  these  strata  have  been 
found  to  enclose  valuable  coal  seams. 

The  Barren  measures. 

In  Centre  county,  this  division  is  made  up  of  argillaceous 
slates  and  shales  and  occasionally  a  gritty  sandstone.  So 
imperfectly  intact  are  these  Barren  Measures  in  this  county 
that  I  nowhere  succeeded  in  finding  an  equivalent  of  the 
Oallitzin  bed.  usually  occurring  about  55-60  feet  above  the 
Freeport  upper  bed  E,  though  it  has  been  repeatedly  iden- 
tified in  other  portions  of  the  Allegheny  Coal  Field. 

*See  Report  G*. 


58  T. 


Plate  VII. 


Secliom  in  Centre  county. 

ffyl.  figf.  f&35  Jiff.  36. 


T.4. 


THE  COAL  MEASURES.  T4.  59 

The  Lower  Productive  Coal  Measures. 

As  recent  surveys  here  and  in  Clearfield  county  have  ren- 
dered certain  changes  in  the  nomenclature  of  the  coal  beds 
of  this  series  necessary  in  order  to  make  them  agree  with 
other  districts  of  the  State,  I  subtend,  below,  a  section 
of  this  group  copied  from  Report  H,  page  69,  the  data  for 
which  were  furnished  by  Mr.  James  L.  Sommerville's  shaft- 
ing. (See  also  Fig.  1,  page  58. ) 

To  the  coal  beds. occurring  in  this  section  I  have  added  in 
brackets  the  present  approved  names. 

Section  at  Snow  Shoe.     Fig.  1. 

Surface  and  cover,     ...       25' 

Coal  E,  Freeport  Upper, 5' 

Fire  clay,  5' 

Concealed  measures, 41'  9" 

Sand  rock, 7' 

Coal  Z>',  Freeport  Middle,  [ Freeport  Lower  D,]  .....    2' 

Brown  ore  and  coal, 2' 

Hard  limestone,         2'  6" 

Light  colored  clay 5' 

Black  slate, 34'  4' 

Slaty  cannel,        2' 

Coal  D,  Freeport  Lower,  [Kittanning  Upper  C',]    ....    5'  8" 

Fire  clay,  3' 

Slates,  light  colored, 16'  6" 

Light  colored  sandstone, 13' 

Coal  C,  slate,  "slaty  coal."  [Kittanning  Middle  C,]     ...    4' 

Black  slate, 11'  6" 

Grey  sandstone 17' 

Black  slate, 10' 

Coal,  bony,       1' 

CoalS,  [Kittanning  Lower  B,]     4' 

Concealed  measures, ....  45' 

Iron  ore,  4' 

Gray  sandy  slates,     14' 

Coal  A,  [Brookville  A,] .'3' 

Fire  clay. 
Conglomerate  No.  XII. 

The  section  itself  is  comparatively  correct,  and  sufficiently 
illustrates  the  position  and  character  of  the  coal  beds  and 
intervals  for  the  whole  basin.* 

In  the  interval  of  63'  between  A  and  B,  as  given  in  the 

*Of  course  the  intervals  given  in  the  section  are  by  no  means  constant,  but 
an  easily-remembered  approximation  between  coal  beds  in  Centre  county  is 
as  follows :  A  and  B  60' ;  B  and  C  40' ;  C  and  C'  40' ;  C'  and  D  40' ;  D  and  E  50'. 


60  T. 


Plate  VIII. 


Sections  in  Centre  conrity. 


BedE 


Plate  IX. 


T4.  61 


Sections  in  Centre  cowty. 


w 


^key/till 

2-tO' 


fig.10 


fiy.12. 


fiy.13. 


62  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNYILLIERS. 

section,  there  frequently  occurs  a  small  and  worthless  bed 
A'  V  6" -2'  thick,  usually  from  15  to  25  feet  above  A,  to 
which  the  name  Clarion  is  given. 

To  the  triple  Kittanning  group  of  coals  have  been  assigned 
the  letters  B,  C  and  C' — lower,  middle  and  upper,  with  an 
intermediate  bed  between  beds  C  and  C',  usually  showing 
2'  of  lustrous  peacock  coal  with  a  hard  slate  roof  and  very 
persistent  in  this  basin.* 

The  Freeport  group  retains  its  duplex  character  of  lower 
and  upper,  and  thus  keeps  its  old  letters  D  and  E,  which 
have  been  affixed  to  them  throughout  the  State. 

In  the  hurried  preliminary  survey  of  1874  in  Clearfield, 
Jefferson  and  a  part  of  Centre  county,  the  error  of  making 
the  Freeport  group  triple  and  introducing  a  middle  member 
arose  from  a  variety  of  causes,  among  which  may  be  men- 
tioned :  f 

First.  The  frequent  absence  of  distinct  limestone  benches 
in  this  field  which  characterize  the  horizons  of  these  coal 
beds  further  west. 

Second.  From  the  mistaking  of  the  Johnstown  cement 
bed  under  the  Kittanning  upper  for  the  limestone  under  the 
Freeport  lower  coal. 

Third.  The  thinning  of  the  great  Moshannon-Morrisdale- 
Karthaus  bed  "D"  from  4'-6'  in  those  regions  to  about  2' 
at  Snow  Shoe,  and  the  consequent  false  identification  of  the 
large  bed  along  the  upper  Moshannon  creek  as  the  large 
("middle")  bed  at  Snow  Shoe,  whereas  in  reality  they  are 
two  distinct  beds. 

Of  the  three  well  marked  limestone  benches  which  form 
so  good  a  means  of  identifying  these  upper  coal  beds  in 
the  west  and  south-west  counties,  only  one;  the  Freeport 
lower  limestone  3'  thick,  has  been  identified  at  Snow  Shoe. 
The  Freeport  upper  limestone  10'-20'  under  bed  E,  and  the 
Johnstown  cement  bed  under  C',  are  either  entirely  wanting 
or  disintegrated  to  such  a  degree  as  to  leave  only  traces  of 
their  existence  in  the  carbonate  ore  balls  occasionally  found 
under  these  beds. 

*  Named  "  Goman  Coal  "  by  W.  G.  Platt.     See  Report  H*. 
fFor  correction  see  Report  HHH,  p.  316,  Somerset  county,  also  §151  Re  port  T 


THE  COAL  MEASURES.  T4.  63 

To  sum  up  the  changes  in  a  few  words,  the  large  coal  bed 
called  locally  "Lower  Freeport  D,"  or  "Middle  Bed"  at 
Snow  Shoe  is  in  reality  the  Kittanning  Upper  (7,  the 
Freeport  lower  bed  2'  thick  occurring  40-45  feet  higher  in 
the  series  and  about  60'  beneath  the  Freeport  upper  bed  E, 
and  it  will  be  necessary  to  bear  these  changes  in  mind  when 
reading  the  following  pages. 

Snow  Shoe  coal  basin. 

The  developments  in  the  Snow  Shoe  basin  proper  have 
been  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  Kittanning  lower,  Kit- 
tanning  upper  and  Freeport  upper  beds,  B,  C'  and  E  to 
which  custom  here  has  affixed  the  names  of  "lower," 
"middle"  or  "big  bed,"  and  "upper  bed." 

Tradition  assigns  the  first  discovery  of  coal  in  this  basin 
to  Col.  John  Holt  and  a  party  of  hunters,  near  a  spring  on 
Askey's  land  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  William  A.  Thomas, 
not  far  from  the  Karthaus  pike  and  just  north  of  the  sum- 
mit cut  of  the  Beech  Creek  R.  R.  At  all  events  the  first 
coal  used  in  the  county  was  taken  from  this  place. 

The  commencement  of  mining  on  an  extensive  scale  was 
on  the  Valentine's  and  Thomas'  tract  of  the  "  Snoe  Show 
Surveys."  Mines  were  opened  from  time  to  time  for  local 
supply,  notably  by  Samuel  Gunsalus,  Thomas  Mayes, 
John  Lucas,  George  Graham  and  Meese  Gunsalus ;  but 
coal  mining  was  not  firmly  established  until  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Bellefonte  and  Snow  Shoe  R.  R.  in  1859. 
The  enterprise  gradually  developed  qintil  1862  when  an  out- 
put of  from  six  to  seven  thousand  tons  monthly  was  re- 
corded. Various  changes  came  about  with  the  transfer  of 
the  railroad  to  the  Pennsylvania  system  in  1881,  and  the 
40,000  acres  obtained  of  the  Snow  Shoe  Land  Association 
together  with  about  8,000  acres  additional  owned  by  the  B. 
&  S.  R.  R.  and  Moshannon  Coal  and  Lumber  Co.  to  the 
Snow  Shoe  Land  and  Improvement  Co. 

Berwind,  White  &  Co.  secured  the  coal  lease  on  this  large 
tract  of  territory  and  immediately  began  extensive  devel- 
opments. Coal  shipments  ran  up  to  300  tons  a  day  and  in 


64  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNYILLIERS. 

the  fall  of  1883  with  the  new  openings  in  Sugar  Camp  hill, 
their  output  was  probably  1000  tons  daily. 

The  coal  shipments  over  the  B.  &  S.  S.  R.  R.  however  for 
the  year  ending  Dec.  31,  1833,  show  only  about  300, 000  tons, 
and  this  includes  the  shipments  of  Earned,  Jacobs  &  Co. 
The  control  of  this  large  body  of  coal  and  the  limited  facili- 
ties for  shipping  over  the  heavy  grades  on  the  B.  &  S.  S.  R. 
R.  has  naturally  restricted  mining  to  the  land  thus  owned. 

But  the  early  completion  of  the  new  Beech  Creek  railroad 
will  serve  to  stimulate  production  in  the  northern  half  of 
the  basin,  as  yet  untouched,  and  in  the  future  encourage, 
no  doubt,  the  opening  of  the  Beech  creek  region  to  the  east. 

As  has  been  already  intimated,  the  display  of  limestone 
through  the  Centre  county  coal  measures  is  very  meagre, 
and  the  Snow  Shoe  basin  is  no  exception  to  the  statement. 

The  Freeport  upper  limestone  was  nowhere  noticed  in 
this  district. 

The  Freeport  lower  limestone,  recorded  in  the  section 
under  the  Freeport  lower  coal  D  2£  feet  thick,  is  the  key- 
rock  in  this  basin,  making  a  marked  bench  through  Lucas 
and  Coal  Hills  and  Sugar  Camp  on  the  south  side  of  the 
basin  and  in  Askey  Hill  on  the  north. 

It  is  everywhere  thin — never  over  3'  thick — and  is  quite 
impure,  and  usually  carries  about  2'  of  carbonate  ore  be- 
tween it  and  the  Freeport  lower  coal. 

The  Johnstown  cement  bed  under  the  Kittanning  upper 
coal  C'  was  only  occasionally  identified  in  a  few  iron  ore 
nodules  scattered  through  a  mass  of  slates. 

The  Ferriferous  limestone  beneath  the  Kittanning  lower 
bed  B,  was  only  noticed  in  one  place,  on  the  north  side  of 
the  basin  on  top  of  the  low  hill  north  of  B.  Yiedorfer's 
place  at  Ger mania. 

It  is  here,  however,  only  in  loose  pieces  of  blue  siliceous 
rock,  and  its  perfect  identification  or  vertical  position  in  the 
measures  doubtful. 

The  Snow  Shoe  section  will  also  demonstrate  the  great 
development  of  slate  in  the  measures  at  this  point. 


THE  COAL  MEASURES.  T4.  65 

Thus  the  place  of  the  Freeport  sandstone  between  beds 
C'  and  D  is  taken  by  34|'  of  black  slate. 

The  enlargement  of  the  black  slates  between  the  Kittan- 
ning  middle  and  lower  coals  is  again  remarkable. 

The  Clarion  sandstone,  still  lower  down,  between  the 
Brookville  coal  A  and  the  Clarion  coal  A',  seems  absent 
unless  it  appears  in  the  45'  of  concealed  measures.  It,  how- 
ever, nowhere  offers  a  means  of  measurement  through  the 
basin  and  is  consequently  of  little  assistance  in  identifying 
the  coal  beds. 

Coal  bed  E. 

The  Freeport  upper  coal  E,  or  the  "upper  bed"  as  it  is 
locally  called,  occupies  but  a  limited  area  in  this  basin,  con- 
fined to  the  hill  tops  in  Lucas  arid  Askey  hills,  a  small  patch 
on  the  Long  estate  and  another  on  the  Bird  Coal  and  Iron 
Company  tract  on  the  north  side  of  the  basin  in  Burnside 
township.  When  opened,  it  shows  an  exceedingly  hand- 
some live-foot  bed  of  bright  clean  coal,  mainly  of  columnar 
structure,  with  a  2-3  inch  slate  parting  dividing  the  bed  in 
half. 

It  is  above  the  average  of  marketable  coals  and  is  said  to 
have  made  excellent  coke,  and  was  especially  shipped  for 
use  in  working  iron. 

The  last  work  done  in  this  bed  was  at  drift  No.  9  of  the 
Snow  Shoe  mines,  which  is  located  on  north  face  of  Lucas 
hill  about  50  feet  below  top  of  hill. 

Bowlders  of  Mahoning  sandstone  cover  the  hill  top  mixed 
with  some  shales  down  to  drift. 

Though  abandoned  when  visited  in  Oct.,  1883,  the  gang- 
ways were  in  a  good  state  of  preservation. 

All  the  openings  on  this  bed  in  Snow  Shoe  have  proved 
it  to  be  seriously  troubled  with  rolls  and  small  faults  and 
this  is  no  exception  in  No.  9. 

A  horse-back  roll  was  met  when  in  a  short  distance  from 
mouth  of  drift,  and  after  proceeding  further,  a  fault  run- 
ning about  N.  8°  E.  and  S.  8°  W.  with  a  small  local  fault 
crossing  the  Karthaus  pike,  at  an  angle  of  about  35°, 
throwing  down  the  coal  on  the  south  about  13'. 
5T4. 


66  T1.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

A  section  of  face  at  this  fault  supplemented  from  bone 
coal  upwards  by  measurements  taken  nearer  the  drift  mouth 
gave  (See  Fig.  2,  page  60) : 

Sandy  slate  roof. 

Coal, V    1" 

Slate, 0  10' 

Bone  coal— cubical, 0     8" 

Coal  good—mined, 3     1" 

Slate  parting, 0  3^" 

Coal  good, 1  KH" 

Fire  clay  floor. 

Another  drift  No.  5,  further  east  around  hill  but  on  same 
outcrop,  furnished  a  considerable  amount  of  coal  for  coking 
at  the  ovens  along  railroad  track,  to  which  it  was  conveyed 
by  an  incline  plane. 

The  troubled  nature  of  this  bed  led  to  its  abandonment 
here  also,  though  a  large  percentage  of  the  bed  has  been 
mined.  The  character  of  the  coal  at  both  these  openings  is 
very  superior.  It  shows  a  great  deal  of  mineral  charcoal 
matter,  is  compact,  columnar  and  with  a  bright,  shiny 
luster.  No.  5  opening  was  examined  by  Mr.  F.  Platt  in 
1874,  who  reports  the  following  section  (Fig.  3,  Page  60,  Re- 
port H,  p.  71) : 

Roof  slate. 

Coal     2'  7" 

Slate  parting  persistent,     2"  to  4" 

Coal,  2'  5" 

Fire-clay  floor,  very  soft. 

An  average  specimen  of  the  coal  yielded  on  analysis  : 
(McCreath) 

Water,        1.280 

Volatile  matter, 25.580 

Fixed  carbon,     68.937 

Sulphur,     .    .    . 613 

Ash, 3.590 

Total, 100.000 

Coke  per  cent.,  73.14.     Color  of  ash,  cream. 

No.  5  opening  is  somewhat  higher  in  elevation  than  No. 
9,  owing  to  the  rise  of  the  measures  eastward. 

This  coal  bench  crosses  to  west  side  of  Karthaus  pike  and 
has  been  found  in  a  well  recently  sunk  at  roadside,  but 
soon  returns  on  south  side  of  hill. 


THE  COAL  MEASURES.  T4.  67 

The  rise  of  the  measures  prevents  any  of  the  bed  from 
being  caught  on  Coal  Hill  to  the  east,  though  a  consider- 
able mass  of  slate  above  the  Freeport  lower  coal  and  lime- 
stone crowns  its  crest. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  basin  the  Freeport  upper  bed  B 
has  been  opened  on  top  of  Askey  Hill,  where  a  drift  has 
been  run  in  N".  E.  on  a  patch  of  about  40-50  acres. 

This  is  on  property  of  William  Thomas  estate,  and  just 
east  of  the  Karthaus  Pike  crossing. 

The  bed  here  is  in  good  condition,  and  has  about  47'  of 
cover  of  the  Barren  Measures  over  it. 

It  has  only  been  opened  for  local  use  and  shows  but  a 
single  gangway  about  100  yards  long. 

A  section  of  this  bed  at  end  of  drift  gave  (Fig.  4,  page  60) : 

Slate  rock,  firm, 

Bone  coal,  .   . 0'  4" 

Coal,  good,  lustrous, 2'  8" 

Slate  parting, 0'  2" 

Coal,  26" 

Fire  clay,  soft. 

This  shows  5'  2"  of  good  mining  coal.  The  bed  is  confined 
to  the  hill  top,  partly  on  Thomas'  and  partly  on  Holt  lands. 
Neither  of  the  other  patches  of  this  bed  left  on  the  hill  tops 
in  Burnside  township  have  been  opened,  though  "5"'  of  coal 
was  reported  from  well  on  Bird  Coal  and  Iron  Co.  tract 
just  north  of  the  township  line.  Both  this  area  and  that 
on  the  Holt  and  Smith  &  Rhodes  portion  of  the  David 
Lennox  tract  are  small.  The  small  amount  of  this  bed  left 
and  the  general  excellence  of  its  coal  make  these  tracts  im- 
portant. 

Coal  bed  D. 

The  next  lower  bed,  the  Freeport  Lower  Bed  D,  of  this 
section  is  nowhere  opened  for  working  at  present  and  its 
general  character  of  a  thin  and  worthless  bed  of  coal  2'  3' 
thick  in  the  basin  warrants  its  neglect. 

Together  with  the  underlying  limestone,  it  may  be  traced 
as  a  distinct  bench  around  Lucas  and  Coal  hills,  though 
cut  off  between  these  hills  by  the  cove  running  up  from  the 
railroad.  Its  outcrop  is  shown  by  the  darkest  tint  on  the 


68  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

colored  geological  map  accompanying  this  report.  Two 
small  patches  of  it  occupy  the  tops  of  the  double  curved 
Sugar  Camp  hill,  where  it  passes  into  the  air  eastward  and 
is  not  caught  again  through  the  Beech  Creek  region. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  basin  it  shows  in  Askey  hill  on 
both  sides  of  the  pike,  from  45'-60'  beneath  bed  E  and 
makes  a  distinct  bench  near  barn  on  the  Thomas  estate 
north-west  of  Orvis,  Williams  &  Co' s  drift.  Passing  around 
that  hill  it  shows  in  smut  on  pike,  the  second  south  from 
Stiefel'sB.  S.  S. 

East,  across  hollow,  this  bed  again  crops  on  Holt's  hill, 
where  it  has  been  shafted  upon  thirty -six  feet  above  C'  and 
is  reported  to  have  shown  4'  of  good  coal.  This  shaft  is 
fallen  shut  now  so  that  no  personal  measurements  could  be 
made.  The  point  is  an  interesting  one  to  settle,  however, 
and  is  by  no  means  improbable,  when  considering  the  other 
changes  in  the  basin. 

This  bed  is  the  famous  Moshannon  bed  of  Clearfield 
opened  all  through'  the  first  basin  and  at  Karthaus  in  the 
second  basin  as  an  excellent  4'-6'  bed,  and  its  local  enlarge- 
ment in  the  Snow  Shoe  basin,  where  usually  worthless, 
would  be  quite  possible. 

The  outcrop  in  this  hill  is  narrow,  though  extending  a 
considerable  distance  south-east  toward  nose.  It  is  partly 
on  lands  of  Messrs  Hoy  and  Holt. 

Mr.  F.  Platt  in  Report  H,  p.  73,  gives  the  following  sec- 
tion (See  Fig.  5,  Page  58) : 

Hill  top, 

Drab  slates  and  thin  sandstones, 15' 

Coal  not  seen,       reported   5' 

Concealed  measures, 30- 

Coal  not  seen,  reported    4' 

Thin  slaty  sandstones  and  gray  slates,     55' 

Black  slates  and  shales  with  lean  hematite, 10' 

Coal  not  seen,    .  . reported    3' 

Brown  and  green  shales  and  concealed  measures,     .   .  66 

Iron  ore  beds,       reported    3' 

Coal,  3 

Water  level  of  creek. 

The  top  coal  of  this  section  is  evidently  bed  D  just  referred 


THE  COAL  MEASURES.  T4.   69 

to.  The  small  openings  in  these  beds  for  local  use  have 
long  since  fallen  shut. 

A  considerable  acreage  of  this  bed  crowns  the  hill  north 
of  William  Holt's  house  on  property  of  Wm.  Holt  and  John 
Hoy,  where  it  is  reported  3'-f-  thick  and  is  again  caught  in 
the  high  ground  in  the  Blanchard  &  Waddle  and  Bird  Coal 
and  Iron  Company's  tracts,  though  all  through  this  part  of 
the  basin  it  seems  to  be  devoid  of  a  distinct  underlying 
limestone  bed. 

There  is  another  old  drift  on  this  bed  on  the  Humes  & 
Holt  142-acre  tract  in  Burnside  township,  where  consider- 
able coal  was  taken  out  in  past  times  for  country  use  from 
a  bed  reported  3'  6"  of  clean  coal. 

Similar  areas  of  this  bed  occur  on  the  Stewart  lands  be- 
tween branches  of  the  Seven  Mile  run  and  east  of  the  pike. 
But  these  places  are  all  undeveloped,  and  nothing  can  be 
said  concerning  the  size  of  the  bed  or  its  character.  The 
coals  are  rising  here  to  the  north-west  on  to  the  Pine  Glen 
axis  and  very  little  of  this  bed  occurs  north  of  the  road  from 
Germania  to  Dr.  Stewart's,  except  on  the  high  ground  just 
at  the  Germania  school -house. 

The  flats  and  meadows  at  Hippie  and  Fisher's  places  can 
only  carry  the  lowest  coal  beds. 

Coal  bed  C' . 

The  Ktttanning  Upper  Bed  C'— the  " middle"  or  "big 
bed"  of  Snow  Shoe  is  by  far  the  most  important  seam 
through  this  basin. 

The  limited  extent  of  the  Freeport  upper,  the  general 
worthlessness  of  the  Freeport  lower,  and  the  large  area  of 
the  A  and  B  beds  that  are  beneath  water-level  all  combine  to 
make  this  Kittanning  upper  bed  one  of  prime  importance  to 
the  district  under  consideration. 

Lying  everywhere  above  water-level  and  yet  readily 
reached  by  railroad  ;  retained  over  considerable  areas  where 
it  is  always  a  merchantable  coal,  its  great  thickness  in  the 
Snow  Shoe  trough  readily  accounts  for  its  being  mistaken 
for  the  Freeport  lower  bed  of  the  Moshannon  region. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  basin  it  has  been  extensively 


70  T.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

worked  at  drifts  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  6,  7,  8,  where  it  shows  an  ex- 
cellent seam  of  coal ;  in  Harned,  Jacobs  &  Co.'s  drift  on  Coal 
hill,  Ghinsalus  drift  and  various  local  openings  with  the 
dip  from  the  south  side  of  the  hill. 

Its  general  character  is  that  of  a  rich,  bright,  heavy  coal, 
useful  for  all  purposes  of  bituminous  coal,  and  capable  of 
making  an  excellent  coke  with  proper  care  in  preparation. 

The  Snow  Shoe  railroad,  after  leaving  the  village  and 
heading  around  Pine  run  ascends  the  south  flank  of  Coal 
hill,  reaching  the  outcrop  of  this  bed  towards  its  eastern 
end,  and  then  following  it  around  that  point,  past  the  various 
drifts  to  No.  8,  the  present  opening  in  Lucas  hill. 

The  grade  of  the  railroad  is  about  the  pitch  of  the  coal 
westward. 

Mr.  Platt's  measurement  in  mine  No.  6,  Report  H,  p.  70, 
gave  (See  Fig.  6,  page  60) : 

Black  slate  roof. 

Slaty  cannel  coal,  worthless 8''  to  2' 

Coal,                2' 4" 

Slate,  persistent, 6" 

Coal,             1'6' 

Slate,  persistent, ' 1' 

Coal,             6" 

Fireclay  floor. 

"The  upper  bench  of  the  coal  is  harder,  and  breaks  out 
somewhat  in  blocks  ;  the  lower  benches  are  friable,  columnar 
in  structure,  and  seem  rather  purer." 

An  average  specimen  of  the  whole  sent  Mr.  McCreath  gave 
on  analysis : 

Water, 0.650 

Volatile  matter, 24.560 

Fixed  carbon, 70.416 

Sulphur, 964 

Ash, 3.410 


Total, 100.000 

Coke  per  cent.,  74.79.     Color  of  ash,  cream. 

This  coal  was  then  (1874)  roughly  coked  in  the  open  air 
near  mine  mouth,  and  yielded  a  line,  compact  coke.  It  was 
carelessly  done,  and  much  slate  got  into  the  coal  slack,  so 
that  I  have  no  doubt  a  much  better  analysis  could  be  ob- 


THE  COAL  MEASURES.  T4.  71 

tained  from  the  improved  methods  of  oven  coking  now  pur- 
sued to  the  following  made  in  1874' by  McCreath,  from  open 
air  coke : 

Water, 990 

Volatile  matter, 2.950 

Fixed  carbon, 82.626 

Sulphur, .       1.104 

Ash, 12.330 

Total, 100.000 

Much  of  the  slate  which  holds  iron  pyrites,  could  be 
eliminated  by  washing.  This  mine  was  abandoned  in  1883. 

An  examination  of  No.  8  drift  in  Lucas  Hill  in  same  bed 
developed  the  following  facts  : 

The  first  fault  met  with  in  the  region  was  found  to 
exist  between  No.  7  and  8  drifts.  The  second  fault  found 
here  further  south  has  a  general  N.  8°  E.  and  S.  8°  W.  di- 
rection, passing  through  the  workings  of  No.  9  on  the 
south  and  possibly  through  Hoys  and  Trullinger  lands  on 
the  north  side  of  the  basin. 

All  the  country  to  the  east  in  Coal  Hill  was  found  undis- 
turbed. A  short  distance  in  from  mouth  of  drift  at  No.  8 
a  serious  horse  back  (?)  was  encountered. 

The  floor  rock  of  sandstone  came  up,  cutting  out  without 
at  all  displacing  the  coal  on  either  side,  while  at  the  same 
time  crushing  the  coal  and  slate  near  the  rock. 

Passing  directly  through  this  wedge,  the  coal  was  found 
with  its  usual  thickness  until  the  fault  between  No.  8  and 
7  was  met — an  upthrow  towards  7  or  eastward  of  about  13'. 

Developing  beyond  this  the  present  fault — a  downthrow 
of  7'  on  the  south  was  being  (Oct.  18th,  '83)  cut  out. 

The  combined  effect  of  these  two  faults  has  been  to  ele- 
vate the  bed  6'  above  its  normal  position,  and  where  meas- 
ured by  barometer  in  the  workings  immediately  beneath 
No.  9  drift  above  it,  the  interval  was  95'  between  C'  and  E. 
At  the  fault  the  bed  was  nearly  70'  above  the  drift  mouth, 
the  bed  rising  rapidly  south-east. 

A  section  of  face  at  fault  gave  (See  Fig.  7,  Page  60) : 

Slate  roof. 

Bone  and  block  coal  not  mined, 1' 

Coal  good, 21' 


72  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Slate, 0'  9i'' 

Coal, 0'  4" 

Slate, 0'  5>" 

Coal,     1'  4" 

Slate 0'  1" 

Coal,         0'  5" 

Fire  clay  floor. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  feature  that  in  the  neighborhood  of 
faults  there  'is  a  considerable  increase  of  slaty  matter. 
Another  section  in  side  track  of  No.  8,  about  300  yards  in, 
gave  (See  Fig.  8,  Page  60) : 

Slate  roof. 

Bone  and  black  coal  not  mined, 10"-12' 

Coal  lustrous  and  good, 2'  6" 

Slate, 0'  6" 

Coal, 1'  4' 

Slate, 0'  1" 

Coal,            0'  5' 

Fire  clay  floor. 

This  mine  has  a  daily  production  of  over  300  tons.  West- 
ward the  bed  rises  rapidly  toward  the  Karthaus  pike,  where 
its  outcrop — 3'-4'  thick — is  seen  passing  south  of  the  Yan- 
derbilt  Hotel  and  about  45'  above  level  of  bridge,  covered 
with  a  characteristic  black  slate  weathering  red. 

The  rise  in  the  measures  westward  carries  it  into  the  air 
before  reaching  the  grade  of  the  Beech  Creek  R.  R. 

Going  south  towards  Snow  Shoe,  the  bed  passes  through 
Lucas  hill  and  is  brought  out  at  Gunsalus'  place  55'  higher 
where  it  has  been  tested  in  field  east  of  road. 

Two  openings  in  this  bed  in  Coal  hill  were  being  operated 
in  the  fall  of  '83. 

The  first  of  these  is  on  the  Bird  Coal  and  Iron  tract  and  is 
worked  by  James  L.  Sommerville  for  Harned,  Jacobs  &  Co. 

The  drift  is  run  in  from  north  side  of  hill  against  the  dip 
and  on  the  east  side  of  draft  separating  Coal  and  Lucas 
hills  and  about  150'  above  Snow  Shoe. 

A  section  of  this  bed  on  east  side  of  main  gangway  gave  : 
(See  Fig.  9,  Page  60.) 

Black  slate  roof. 

Bone  coal  not  mined,        0'  10' 

Coal,  columnar  and  good,  .  24' 

Slate  parting,  soft  and  sometimes  sulphury, 0     8" 


THE  COAL  MEASURES.  T4.  73 

Coal, 1'  5J" 

Mining  slate, 0  I" 

Coal, 0'  6" 

Fire  clay  floor. 

The  bed  is  in  excellent  condition  here,  and  does  not  show 
any  of  the  "troubles"  met  with  further  west  in  Lucas  hill, 

A  section  further  east  in  same  mine  gave  (See  Fig.  10, 
page  61): 

Roof  black  slate. 

Bone  coal, 0'  10" 

Coal,         2'    7" 

Slate  parting,  persistent, 0'    8" 

Coal, 1'    6" 

Slate, 0'    1" 

Coal,      10' 

Fire  clay  floor. 

Passing  through  Coal  hill,  this  bed  crops  out  on  south 
side  about  40'  higher.  The  hill  covering  is  50'  in  which  the 
bench  of  Freeport  lower  coal  and  limestone  is  seen  near 
summit. 

Further  south-west  up  cove  the  old  Gunsalus  mine  is 
still  worked  for  local  use,  and  a  most  excellent  character 
of  coal  is  displayed  at  face,  made  up  of  brilliant  columnar 
glance  coal. 

At  present  face  (Oct.,  '83)  the  bed  dips  slightly  to  the 
south  probably  only  a  local  roll,  which  however  creates  bad 
drainage.  The  pitch  westward  towards  the  Moshannon  is 
marked.  A  section  of  this  bed  gave  (See  Fig.  11,  Page  61 ) : 

Hard  slate  roof. 

Bone  coal, 0'  10' 

Coal, 26 

Slate,        0     8 

Coal,      1'    5 

Slate,  sulphur, 0'    2' 

Coal,  1'    0' 

Fire  clay  floor. 

This  Kittanning  upper  bed  C'  is  again  opened  in  Sugar 
Camp  hill  about  2  miles  to  the  N.  E.,  outcropping  in  both 
wings  of  that  V  shaped  hill  through  which  the  synclinal 
axis  of  the  basin  passes. 

The  railroad  branch  passes  up  into  cove  between  this 
double  hill,  near  the  head  of  which  this  bed  is  opened  at 


74  T4.        EEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

No.  1  drift  about  25'  above  the  track  and  probably  50'  below 
Snow  Shoe  by  barometer. 

About  300  yards  in  from  the  mouth  the  following  section 
shows  (Fig.  12,  page  61) : 

Roof  slate,  soft, 

Coal,        2' 7" 

Boney  ooal  and  slate,  not  used, 05" 

Coal,          2'  0" 

Fire  clay. 

This  is  about  the  cleanest  coal  in  the  mine.  Usually  there 
is  about  6"  of  bone  beneath  the  roof. 

At  this  point  the  bed  has  risen  about  30'  from  opening. 
The  bed  shows  slightly  different  from  No.  8  on  Lucas  hill, 
there  being  no  mining  slate  of  any  account,  and  the  upper 
bench  showing  about  2  inches  thicker. 

There  is  not  sufficient  cover  for  the  Freeport  upper  bed 
E  on  top  of  this  hill  though  the  summit  is  about  115  feet 
higher  than  the  opening. 

The  rise  of  the  bed  south-east  however,  would  bring  this 
measurement  under  100',  when  measured  in  a  vertical  plane. 
The  slates  of  the  Freeport  upper  bed  show  in  patches  on 
crest. 

The  Freeport  lower  limestone  bench  is  about  35'  above 
C'.  It  shows  about  18"  of  Freeport  lower  coal  on  top  of  it. 

No.  2  Sugar  Camp  drift  is  located  further  west  down 
track  about  300  yards.  It  goes  in  nearly  east,  or  at  right 
angles  to  No.  1  workings,  and  at  mouth  of  drift  is  20'  above 
track  and  only  about  35'  lower  than  the  opening  on  C'. 

It  is  ordinarily  called  B — Kittanning  lower,  though  that 
bed  usually  occurs  80'-)-  below  C',  and  its  vertical  interval 
makes  it  possible  that  it  is  the  Kittanning  middle  bed  C  en- 
larged to  give  the  following  sections  reported  by  George 
Ramsey,  Supt,  No.  1,  section  at  face  in  drift.  No.  2,  trial 
shaft.  No.  3,  section  at  trial  shaft  sunk  on  south-east  part 
of  bed.  (See  Fig.  13,  Page  60.) 

i.  2. 

ditto. 

Roof  slate  sandy 0  JO"  0' 10 

Bone  coal, 2'    0"  2'    0" 

Slate, 0'    1"  0'    1" 


THE  COAL  MEASURES.  T*.  75 

Coal, 1'    4"  1'    5" 

Fire  clay.  Fire  clay. 

3. 
ditto. 

Bone  coal, 0'  11" 

Coal,     2'    4" 

Slate, 0'    2" 

Coal, 1'    2" 

Slate, 0'    1" 

Coal,        1' 

Fire  clay  floor. 

The  mine  was  not  opened  for  shipments  at  time  of  visit 
and  no  personal  inspection  could  be  made. 

It  certainly  underlies  bed  C'  in  No.  1,  for  in  the  test  drift 
500'  long  the  gangway  is  under  the  rooms  in  No.  1,  which 
have  been  carried  towards  the  south-west. 

Massive  sand  rocks  show  in  railroad  under  this  lower  coal. 

Such  is  the  variation  of  these  Snow  Shoe  coal  beds  over 
small  areas  that  any  identification  of  beds  here  (as  indeed 
elsewhere)  by  means  of  partings  or  benches  is  not  at  all 
practical,  and  with  the  Freeport  lower  limestone  in  place 
on  the  top  of  the  hill  as  a  key-rock,  the  interval  to  this  bed 
makes  it  probable  that  it  is  the  Kittanning  middle  C  locally 
showing  a  bed  section  something  like  the  K Manning  lower 
B  or  Snow  Shoe  No.  10. 

Kittanning  Lower  bed  B. 

This  latter  bed  is  opened  and  worked  in  the  east  end  of 
Coal  Hill.  The  top  of  the  hill  shows  a  knob  of  Freeport 
lower  limestone,  over  which  the  slates  of  the  Freeport  upper 
bed  E  are  in  place. 

About  80'  below  crest  an  old  drift  was  run  in  on  the 
dip  on  the  Kittanning  upper  bed  C'  from  south  side  of  hill. 

An  old  shaft  from  here  down  to  bed  B  developed  bed  C 
only  as  a  mass  of  slate  and  slaty  coal  and  B  72'  below  C'. 

A  section  in  mine  No.  10,500'  in  main  heading,  gave 
(Fig.  14,  page  60) : 

Slate  roof. 

Bone  coal, '0'  HX 

Coal, 2'    4" 

Slate, 0'    1" 

Coal, 0'  10'' 

Coal,  sulphur  and  worthless, 0'    6" 

Fire  clay  floor. 


76  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'  INVILLIERS. 

In  other  parts  of  the  mine  the  bottom  slate  is  thicker,  but 
the  underlying  coal  improves  in  quality.  This  bed  sinks 
below  water  level  west  along  railroad  grade  and  Beech 
creek,  but  is  exposed  directly  east  in  Crider' s  hill. 

Below  it  from  60'-70'  the  Brookville  bed  A  shows  in  cut 
along  railroad,  but  it  is  nowhere  opened*  in  this  basin,  as 
it  goes  under  water  level  near  the  forks  of  Beech  creek  west 
of  charcoal  kilns. 

The  Kittanning  upper  bed  C' — after  passing  through 
Sugar  Camp  hill — is  probably  caught  again  south  across 
ravine  in  Crider'  s  hill,  where  several  old  drifts  have  been 
run  in  with  dip  from  south  side  of  hill. 

One  recent  opening  has  been  made  on  east  end  of  hill, 
overlooking  the  Pancake  mill,  but  though  twice  visited, 
the  drift  was  locked  up  so  that  no  examination  could  be 
made. 

This  is  to  be  regretted,  as  common  report  makes  this  bed 
B  or  Kittanning  lower  the  same  as  worked  in  No.  10  of  Coal 
hill. 

Though  the  rise  of  the  Kittanning  upper  bed  through 
Sugar  Camp  hill  southward  is  rapid,  this  Crider  hill  is 
further  west,  and  consequently  gets  the  advantage  of  the 
pitch  of  the  measures.  Moreover,  it  is  considerably  higher 
than  Sugar  Camp.  Other  reasons  for  naming  it  C'  in  the 
absence  of  any  key-rocks  are  mainly  these. 

The  road  south  from  the  charcoal  kilns  to  Snow  Shoe  is 
apparently  on  a  coal  bench  which  corresponds  in  position 
and  trend  to  the  large  smut  outcrop  50'-60'  below  No. 
10  drift  (B)  which  is  exposed  in  the  Beech  creek  railroad 
cut  along  Coal  hill. 

This  A  (Brookville  coal)  bench  heads  up  the  cove  through 
which  Crider' s  road  runs,  and  returns  around  Coal  hill  and 
passes  under  water  level  about  one  mile  west  of  kilns  at 
forks  of  creek. 

Starting  up  Crider  s  hill  from  this  bench,  another  bench 
was  passed  65'  higher — or  bed  B. 

*TDnless  this  be  the  large  bed  opened  on  the  Hoy  property. 


SNOW  SHOE  BASIN.  T4.  77 

One  hundred  and  seven  feet  higher  and  a  little  to  the  east 
the  top  bench  occurs,  where  smut  is  seen  in  open  field, 
which  is  evidently  the  Kittanning  upper  C'.  The  coals  are 
rising  eastward  against  pitch,  which  accounts  for  the  in- 
creased interval.  East  from  this  smut  there  is  a  drift  on 
same  bed  10'  higher,  the  bed  rising  20'  higher  still  to  where 
it  is  opened  on  east  side  of  hill. 

No  appearance  of  the  Kittanning  middle  C  was  noticed 
here,  nor  of  the  overlying  Freeport  lower  limestone, 
though  the  summit  is  about  forty  feet  above  last  named 
drift. 

By  barometer  this  hill  is  fully  80'  higher  than  Sugar 
Camp,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is  further  west,  and 
nearer  the  center  of  the  basin. 

Going  south-east  down  hill  towards  school-house  at  the 
cross  roads,  the  lower  bench  (B)  was  passed  in  open  field  80' 
below  C'  accompanied  with  a  profusion  of  hematite  balls. 

This  bed  catches  for  the  last  time  on  south  side  of  basin 
in  the  knob  just  south  of  cross  roads. 

North  side  of  the  basin. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  basin  the  Kittanning  upper  bed  C' 
has  been  but  slightly  developed,  though  it  makes  a  marked 
bench  throughout  the  region  and  has  been  tested  in  several 
trial  shafts.  Messrs.  Orvis,  Williams  &  Co.  have  opened 
the  first  regular  mine  on  it  on  the  north  side  of  the  syncli- 
nal on  the  Thomas  estate  lands  on  Askey  Hill. 

A  drift  has  been  run  in  N.  W.  on  this  bed  by  Mr.  James 
Pope.  The  level  of  opening  is  about  60'  (by  barometer) 
above  the  No.  8  drift  on  south  side  of  basin,  but  the  meas- 
ures have  risen  fully  that  much  going  westward,  though 
this  rate  of  rise  diminishes  if  not  ceases  altogether  along 
the  Karthaus  pike. 

In  140'  from  mouth,  coal  smut  first  shows  in  this  mine. 
At  400'  the  coal  had  risen  21'  on  the  dip  (see  Fig.  15,  page 
61.)  and  showed 


78  T4.        EEPOET  OF  PEOGEESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Roof— hard  black  slate. 

Coal,     0'  6" 

Slate  parting  persistent, 0'  4" 

Goal,  bright  and  columnar, 3'  1 ' 

Fire  clay  floor— hard. 

The  coal  is  lustrous  and  heavy  and  remarkably  free  from 
impurity.  As  far  as  developed,  this  bed  seems  to  have  lost 
most  of  its  upper  bench,  though  when  last  visited  (Nov., 
'83,)  the  top  coal  showed  9"  thick. 

A  roll  of  slight  extent  was  met  with  in  the  early 
workings  of  Pope's  drift,  pitching  the  coal  to  N.  W. 
All  the  drainage  of  this  mine  passes  through  the  floor 
south  of  this  roll  and  issues  in  a  spring  at  next  lower 
bench  in  meadow. 

When  first  met  it  had  comparatively  little  cover,  Askey 
Hill  sloping  gradually  to  meadow  below  •  drift,  where  a 
small  bed  of  coal  was  struck,  evidently  the  small  (Gorman) 
bed  occurring  between  beds  C  and  C'  and  though  thin  in 
this  region  as  elsewhere,  shows  usually  good,  bright  coal. 

A  section  north  up  Askey  Hill  shows  both  the  Freeport 
beds  in  place  as  already  mentioned  ;  and  the  cross  section 
in  Fig.  16,  page  61,  along  an  east  and  west  line  will  show 
the  relations  between  measures  in  Askey  and  Holt's  Hills. 

The  Kittanning  upper  bed  crops  on  the  Karthaus  pike 
just  south  of  StiefeFs  B.  iS.  S.  and  the  underlying  interme- 
diate bed  above  mentioned  shows  47'  lower  in  pike  north  of 
shop.  Possibly  a  little  of  the  Kittanning  upper  bed  C' 
remains  in  Seven  Mile  Run  Hill,  though  this  is  mostly 
occupied  by  the  lower  measures. 

This  local  coal  also  shows  in  the  deep  summit  cut  on  the 
Beech  Creek  R.  R.  just  beneath  the  Karthaus  road  bridge, 
where  the  measures,  mostly  shales,  are  considerably  dis 
torted. 

North-east  around  hill  from  the  Pope  drift,  a  new  open- 
ing on  the  Kittanning  upper  bed  C'  was  being  started  in  the 
fall  of  '83  by  Mr.  Somrnerville  at  a  barometric  elevation  10' 
higher,  where  only  about  1  foot  of  soft  outcrop  coal  had 
been  exposed. 

Another  trial  drift  still  further  north  in  same  hill,  on 
Holt's  land,  shows  this  bed  with  a  firm  slate  roof  under 


SNOW  SHOE  BASIN.  T4.  79 

which  there  is  V  6"  of  coal,  a  slate  parting  of  6  inches  and 
then  coal  again ;  bottom  not  seen.  The  opening  is  on  east 
side  of  hill  and  26'  by  barometer  higher  than  Somer- 
ville's,  showing  the  rise  north-west  towards  the  anticlinal. 
The  enlargement  of  the  upper  bench  here  without  appar- 
ently affecting  the  lower  is  important,  and  if  persistent, 
will  considerably  increase  the  value  of  this  bed. 

North-east  on  opposite  side  of  ravine,  this  same  bed  is 
opened  in  HoW  s  Hill  26'  higher  than  last  drift  and  about 
36'  below  D  on  top  of  hill.'  The  shaft  is  now  fallen  shut, 
but  the  bed  was  reported  3'  7"  thick  here. 

The  Kittanning  middle  bed  C  benches  in  hollow  below  at 
Quick's  house,  the  Kittanning  upper  C'  heading  around 
cove  and  cropping  on  north  side  of  narrow  ridge  dividing 
this  creek  from  the  branch  of  Seven  Mile  run  at  J.  H.  Holt's 
house.  A  lower  bed,  probably  C,  crops  just  at  his  house 
and  shows  inroad  to  William  Holt's  about  100 yards  north- 
east of  J.  H.  Holt's. 

The  Kittanning  upper  crops  south  of  this  road  and  re- 
turns along  north  and  east  side  of  HoW  s  Hill,  where  it  was 
opened  in  an  old  drift  above  Weaver's  house,  3'+  thick. 
Just  at  Weaver's  house  the  intermediate  bed  between  C  and 
C'  was  struck  in  well.  One  hundred  yards  to  the  north  in 
woods  a  shaft  was  put  down  about  50'  below  the  Kittanning 
upper  drift,  which  struck  the  Kittanning  middle  bed  C 
under  4'  of  cover  3'+  thick  and  slaty. 

This  shaft  was  carried  down  20'  through  a  blue  siliceous 
sand  rock  and  30'  ±  of  shales  and  slates  without  striking 
coal. 

However  90'  by  barometer  below  this  shaft  at  base  of  hill 
an  old  drift  was  opened  about  15  years  ago. 

This  is  the  bottom  bed  of  Mr.  Platt's  section  on  page  58, 
Fig.  5,  and  his  measurements,  Report  H,  p.  74,  are  as  fol- 
lows:  (See  Fig.  17,  page  60.)  ^ 

Black  slate  roof,  ]     6" 

Coal,        6  '  to  8" 

Slate, Si- 
Coal,       2'    4" 

Fire  clay 2'    6'' 


80  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D' INVILLIERS. 

"The  coal  averages  from  28  to  30  inches  in  thickness  in 
one  bench,  the  upper  16  inches  being  of  columnar  friable 
coal  12  to  14  inches,  very  hard." 

An  analysis  of  the  upper  bench  yielded  (McCreath)  1874 : 

Water, 1.680 

Volatile  matter, 21.870 

Fixed  carbon, 71.108 

Sulphur, 612 

Ash, 4.730 

Total, 100.000 

* 

Coke  per  cent.,  76.45.     Color  of  ash,  red. 
The  coal  has  a  shining  luster  generally,  some  pieces  dull 
metallic  luster,  irridescent. 
The  lower  bench  yielded  (McCreath): 

Water, 0.880 

Volatile  matter 23.620 

Fixed  carbon, 70.089 

Sulphur, 661 

Ash, 4.750 

Total, 100.000 


Coke  per  cent.,   75.50.     Color  of  ash,  red. 

"The  coal  has  a  very  dull  luster,  and  shows  considerable 
irrideecence." 

The  above  analysis  shows  an  excellent  character  of  coal. 

Mr.  Platt's  section  makes  the  next  coal  70'  higher,  an  in- 
terval which  will  correspond  with  my  own,  when  allowance 
is  made  for  the  position  of  Holt's  drift,  farther  south  than 
line  of  cross  section. 

Kittanning  lower  f  bed  B  in  HoW  s  drift. 

Quite  a  deposit  of  bog  ore  of  a  red,  slimy  nature  ac 
companied  this  lower  bed,  being  dissolved  from  the  shales 
beneath  it. 

Considerable  controversy  exists  as  to  the  horizon  of  this 
bed,  but  with  all  the  data  I  eollected  by  repeatedly  visiting 
the  locality,  I  have  named  it,  though  with  some  hesitation, 
Kittanning  lower  B. 

It  does  not  seem  possible  that  the  full  thickness  of  this 
bed  has  been  exposed  in  the  drift,  for  its  bench  is  a  very 


SNOW  SHOE  BASIN.  T*.  81 

large  one.*  However,  on  the  south  side  of  the  run  (which 
enters  Lick  run  before  the  latter  reaches  Beech  creek  at  the 
Splash  dam)  and  150  yards  south  of  the  drift,  on  low  hill  a 
shaft  40  ±  deep  struck  this  bed  with  the  same  thickness 
and  the  same  excellent  character  of  coal.  From  this  place 
the  hill  points  to  forks  of  stream  in  Hoys'  land  where  a 
splendid  bed  of  coal  6'+  thick  in  two  benches  has  been 
opened  in  a  monkey  drift  47'  (barometer)  below  Holt's  drift 
but  considerably  to  the  south.  This  bed  gave  the  following 
section  though  the  sides  were  very  dirty,  obscuring  contact 
lines,  (see  Fig.  18,  page  60)  :— 

Slate  roof, 0'    6"—  0'  10" 

Coal, 3     6'' 

Slate, 0'    6" 

Coal,     2'  10" 

Fire  clay. 

•  Proceeding  north-west  towards  Holt's  drift  this  bed  was 
shafted  upon  in  Holt's  McClelland  tract  where  it  showed 
about  the  same  thickness  and  elevation,  and  again  in  Hoy's 
land  3'  lower  a  good  §%-!'  bed  with  slate  partings. 

Finally  200'  N.  W.  a  shaft  was  put  down  on  Hoy's  land 
where  I  measured  the  following  section,  (see  Fig.  19,  page 
60)  :  — 

Sandstone  and  slate  cover, 7' 

Coal,         2' 3" 

Slate, • 1'  6" 

Coal, 0'8" 

Slate, 0'6i" 

Coal,     2' 8" 

Fire  clay. 

The  hill  above  is  made  up  of  buff  and  white  sandstone 
bowlders  similar  to  the  rock  overlying  bed  B  at  the  Tunnel 
Mines  in  Rush  township.  See  page  87. 

Between  the  last  shaft  and  Holt's  shaft  on  south  side  of 
run,  a  shaft  is  located  which  is  reported  to  have  shown  the 
bed  curved  downwards  and  feathered. 

*The  Kittanning  lower  bed  B  is  frequently  characterized  by  a  fire-clay 
slate  or  shale  parting.  It  is  typically  a  double  bed  divided  by  this  fire-clay 
parting  and  frequently  its  upper  bench  is  again  split  by  a  slate  bed. 

6  T\ 


82  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Possible  Fault. 

If  this  be  true  and  used  as  an  argument  for  &  fault,  it 
would  tend  to  prove  this  region  raised  above  its  normal 
height  and  consequently  we  would  expect  to  find  this  bed 
over  the  bed  opened  in  Holt's  drift. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  the  bed  was  feathered  upwards  it  is 
— on  the  basis  of  &  fault — to  be  looked  for  under  the  coal  in 
drift.  No  effect  of  a  fault  would  tend  to  diminish  the  size 
of  the  bed  in  identifying  them  as  the  same,  and  unless  the 
coal  in  Holt's  drift  has  not  been  fully  opened,  the  two  beds 
can  not  be  identical,  and  it  would  become  necessary  to  call 
this  large  bed  the  Brookville  coal  A  if  Holt's  coal  be  the 
Kittanning  lower  B. 

In  comparing  the  lower  benches  of  the  two  beds  they  are 
quite  similar  and  in  the  face  of  the  great  and  sudden 
changes  in  the  Kittanning  upper  bed  C7,  at  No.  8  Snow 
Shoe  and  Messrs.  Orvis,  Williams  &  Co. "a  mine,  it  may  be 
possible  that  similar  changes  may  have  occurred  here  in  a 
lower  bed.  The  difference  in  elevation  between  this  last 
shaft  and  Holt's  opening  is  about  36  feet. 

The/att#line  in  No.  8  (N.8°  E.  and  S.  8°  W.)  if  continued 
northward  would  certainly  pass  somewhere  between  Hoy's 
and  Holt's  drifts,  and  apparently  the  coal  beds  on  the  west 
side  of  this  line  are  generally  reduced  in  size  as  compared 
with  those  to  the  east  of  it. 

Future  developments  will  alone  make  these  points  clear 
and  an  explanation  of  them  here  will  evidently  apply  to 
similar  circumstances  to  be  afterwards  mentioned,  occurring 
in  the  Trullinger  lands  along  Little  Sandy  creek  and  in 
almost  a  direct  continuation  of  this  line  north-eastward. 

The  large  coal  bed  wherever  tested  lies  apparently  very 
flat,  and  its  rise  north-westward  from  the  drift  to  the  shaft 
where  it  was  squeezed,  is  practically  nothing. 

Kittanning  upper  bed  C'  on  north  side  of  basin. 

North  of  the  road  leading  from  Holt's  around  to  the  Ger- 

mania  settlement  theKittanning  upper  bed  makes  a  distinct 

bench,  and  is  mainly  confined  to  the  high  land  south  of  the 

road  from  Dr.  Stewart's  to  Germania.     It  passes  into  the 


SNOW  SHOE  BASIN.  T4.  83 

air  on  its  north  outcrop  south-east  of  the  Germania  school- 
house. 

The  road  running  south  from  here  to  J.  H.  Holt's  is  in  a 
hollow  made  by  a  branch  of  Seven  Mile  run  which  cuts  out 
this  bed.  West  of  the  road,  however,  this  bed  is  preserved 
over  a  considerable  area  extending  west  nearly  to  the  Kar- 
thaus  pike  south  of  Dr.  Stewart's  and  benching  near  Oscar 
Holt's  house  before  swinging  north  on  the  Smith  and 
Rhoades  lands. 

Goal  on  Stewart  lands. 

On  a  branch  of  Seven  Mile  run  about  150  yards  east  of 
pike  on  property  of  Wm.  Stewart,  coal  was  opened  in  hill 
30-40'  above  creek  level.  This  is  probably  the  Kittanning 
lower  bed  B.  Several  other  openings  were  made  in  hill- 
side, all  of  which  have  been  closed  up  for  some  reason. 

Dr.  Stewart  reports  3'  of  coal  in  the  lower  drift,  slaty  and 
with  a  soft  roof.  62'  higher  by  barometer,  smut  and  black 
shales  were  seen  at  an  old  shaft  where  coal  4'  thick  is 
claimed.  Hematite  balls  have  been  thrown  out  here  also. 
This  is  probably  C',  as  33'  above  this  an  opening  has  been 
made  in  the  Freeport. sandstone,  here  very  well  exposed  and 
making  quite  a  terrace.  It  is  about  46'  from  here  to  top  of 
hill  and  though  the  Freeport  lower  bed  D  was  not  located, 
both  it  and  the  Freeport  upper  come  in  on  the  unbroken 
ground  extending  from  here  east  towards  Germania. 

The  Kittanning  middle  bed  C,  with  its  accompanying 
black  band  ore,  shows  wrell  on  the  pike  just  south  from 
cross  roads  at  Dr.  Stewart's.  This  bed  has  also  been  struck 
in  Dr.  Stewart's  cellar,  but  soon  passes  out  to  daylight  north, 
of  his  place. 

Coal  on  Martin  Long  tract. 

On  the  Martin  Long  place  near  the  extreme  edge  of  the 
basin  at  the  head  of  the  most  northern  branch  of  Seven  Mile 
run,  a  "3"  foot  coal  bed  has  been  opened.  The  drift  is 
about  25'  long  and  runs  mostly  in  the  slate  roof.  By 
barometer  it  is  about  60'  above  Stewart's,  though  a  mile  and 
a  half  nearer  the  anticlinal,  and  is  probably  bed  B.  It 


84  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

is  very  similar  in  appearance  to  the  bed  opened  in  the  Wil- 
liam Holt  drift  and  is  accompanied  by  the  same  bog  ore. 

The  coals  are  rising  rapidly  here  as  they  approach  the 
Pine  Glen  axis,  though  the  hill  above  this  drift  is  said  to 
show  a  good  bed  of  coal  near  crest — possibly  a  patch  of  the 
Kittanning  upper  C'. 

A  section  of  bed  in  drift  400  yards  west  of  Fred.  Carson's 
gave  (See  Fig.  20,  page  61.): — 

Top  sandstone, 0'  15' 

Black  slate,        " 0'  3' 

Bone  coal  and  slate, 0'  3' 

Black  shale  and  slate, 1'  4' 

Gray  shale  and  SS.  banded, 3'  6' 

Coal  soft  bottom  not  seen,  . 1'  4' 

The  rest  of  the  country  south  of  this  drift  is  flat  and 
swampy,  and  contains  but  little  coal. 

The  Clarion  f  Sandstone  crops  in  pike  near  Pine  Glen 
school  house  dipping  S.  E.,  so  that  the  underlying  Brook- 
ville  bed  A  probably  passes  over  the  flattened  arch  of  the 
anticlinal  into  the  Second  basin.  The  map  has  been  col- 
ored with  this  view  in  mind. 

West  of  Karthaus  Pike. 

Generally  speaking,  the  country  west  of  the  Karthaus 
pike  along  the  Seven  Mile  run  in  Snow  Shoe  and  Burnside 
townships  contains  only  the  lowest  coals, — that  is,  under  C'. 

On  township  road  from  S.  H.  to  Stewart's  saw  mill  the 
ground  is  flat  and  covered  with  the  lowest  coal  measure 
shales.  Coal  bench  (A')  crosses  road  just  below  mill  and 
passes  thence  north  over  axis  into  Newcomers  land. 

At  mouth  of  Seven  Mile  run  on  the  river,  PoconoSS.  No, 
X  shows  along  Moshannon  creek  dipping  S.  E. 

It  is  probably  lOO'-j-  thick,  and  going  up  the  run  No.  XI 
red  shales,  carrying  red  bog  ore  decomposed  from  carbon- 
ates, shows  along  ravine  for  30  or  40  yards. 

After  this  all  is  No.  XII  conglomerate  to  top  of  hill,  where 
Clarion  coal  bed  A'  was  sunk  through  2'  thick. 

Near  barn  to  the  north  and  45'  higher  there  is  another 
bench, — probably  Kittanning  lower  bed  B. 

These,  with  bed  C  already  mentioned,  south  of  Stewart's, 
pass  through  Seven  Mile  Run  hill  on  the  south. 


SNOW  SHOE  BASIN.  T4.  85 

Going  south  towards  Snow  Shoe,  bed  B  outcrops  at  both 
sides  of  North  Branch  to  Seven  Mile  run  at  water  trough, 
about  75'  below  Stewart's,  and  ascending  the  hill  south  to  J. 
Craft's,  bed  C  shows  about  50'  higher.  This  bed  was  struck 
in  a  shaft  at  Craft's  about  25'  below  surface. 

The  hill  east  from  here  takes  in  higher  measures,  as  al- 
ready mentioned  in  speaking  of  Wm.  Stewart's  lands. 

North  of  Stieflle's  B.  S.  S.,  smut  shows  on  pike,  being  the 
small  bed  between  the  middle  and  upper  Kittanning  beds, 
and  further  down  pike  the  Kittanning  middle  C  has  been 
struck  in  a  shaft  at  roadside  23'  deep,  through  a  mass  of  firm 
black  slate  on  to  2'-j-  of  excellent,  bright,  irridescent  coal. 

MosJiannon  Village  coals. 

On  road  from  B.  S.  S.  to  Moshannon  P.  O.  the  upper  Kit- 
tanning  and  Freeport  coals  bench  everywhere  to  the  east. 

The  conglomerate  of  XII  is  seen  on  this  road  shortly  after 
passing  the  saw  mill,  and  is  well  exposed  on  south  side 
of  the  Little  Moshannon,  where  it  extends  nearly  to  hill 
tops. 

All  the  hills  through  here  as  far  as  the  Rush  township 
line  carry  only  the  lowest  coals,  possibly  insignificant 
patches  of  Kittanning  lower  B,  marking  the  shoaling  of  the 
basin  towards  Moshannon  creek. 

East  of  the  mill  the  upper  members  of  XII,  Homewood 
SS.  and  shales  are  dipping  south-east,  until  bed  A,  Brook- 
ville  coal,  is  met.  The  Clarion  buff  colored  sandstone  is 
next  met  with  further  N.  E.  towards  village,  succeeded  by 
bed  B.  This  is  the  same  bed  as  opened  many  years  ago 
on  Beightol's  run  close  to  road  in  a  drift  now  fallen  shut. 

The  bed  here  is  reported  "3"  feet  and  again  opened  "4" 
feet  thick  at  P.  Walker's  on  north  side  of  run. 

Both  these  mines  were  opened  with  the  dip,  and  are 
drowned  out.  No.  XI  red  shale  and  No.  X  Pocono  sand- 
stone come  in  along  this  run  before  it  empties  into  Moshan- 
non creek.' 

The  Clear  field  Bituminous  Coal  Go's  Mines. 
The  only  other  field  of  promise  in  the  western  part  of  the 
basin  is  the  small  300  acre  patch  of  the  Kittanning  lower  bed, 


86  T4.        REPOKT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

with  neighboring  smaller  remnants,  that  have  been  caught 
on  the  high  ground  between  the  waters  of  Big  and  Little 
Moshannon  creeks  at  the  Moshannon  tunnel  of  the  B.  C., 
C.  and  S.  W.  R.  R. 

This  patch  forms  part  of  the  Clearfield  Bituminous  Coal 
Company's  tract  of  land,  and  extensive  preparations  were 
being  made  to  secure  a  large  output  of  coal  from  this  hill 
upon  the  completion  of  the  railroad  line. 

The  position  and  character  of  the  deposit  will  be  shown 
on  map,  plate  6,  page  54,  reduced  from  map  of  the  above 
company,  which  shows  the  outcrop  of  the  Kittanning  lower 
bed  B  at  the  Tunnel  mines. 

Along  the  railroad. 

After  crossing  the  Little  Moshannon  at  Rock  run,  the 
railroad  passes  through  the  sandstone  of  XII  to  the  Briar- 
town  summit,  where  an  intra-conglomerate  coal  bed  eight 
inches  thick  is  exposed  in  the  cut  at  about  1600'  A.  T., 
underlaid  with  blue  sandstone  and  covered  with  blue  shales 
and  black  slate.  It  lies  about  60'  below  bed  A. 

This  is  the  same  bed  seen  over  the  east  entrance  to  Mo- 
shannon tunnel  at  about  1520'  A.  T.,  the  difference  (80 
feet)  of  elevation  showing  the  amount  of  pitch  westward 
in  the  two  outcrops  two  miles  apart  on  a  nearly  east  and 
west  line. 

The  dip  of  the  measures  N.  W.  is  shown  on  map  of  300 
acre  tract  where  a  difference  of  182'  in  5600  or  about  170'  to 
the  mile  occurs  between  the  south  outcrop  of  bed  B  and 
No.  2  drift. 

Clarion  sandstone  shows  in  railroad  cut  west  of  summit, 
the  Brookville  or  A  bed  cropping  to  the  north  below  grade. 
In  November  1883  the  company  had  located  5  drifts  on  these 
lands  as  shown  on  map,  4  in  the  main  body  of  300  acres. 
and  1  in  the  50  acre  patch  on  the  hill  south  of  tunnel.  The 
Clarion  coal  bed  A'  has  only  been  opened  in  one  place,  on 
hill  back  of  boarding-house  where  it  showed  2'  6"  thick  of 
excellent  coal. 

The  crop  of  the  Kittanning  lower  bed  B  needs  no  de- 
scription as  it  will  be  readily  seen  in  Plate  6.  The  drifts 


SNOW  SHOE  BASIN.  T4.  87 

are  all  double  gangways,  and  were  built  in  the  most  sub- 
stantial manner  under  the  superintendence  of  Col.  Gr.  H. 
Platt,  Chief  Engineer,  and  Mark  Hopkins,  Assistant,  to 
whom  I  am  indebted  for  courtesies. 

No.  1  drift  was  in  about  60'  at  time  of  my  visit. 

The  bed  had  not  developed  itself  here  yet,  showing  mere 
soft  outcrop  coal  and  considerably  troubled. 

Description  of  Kittanning  lowev  bed  B. 

The  hill  cover  at  mouth  of  drift  is  slight  but  elsewhere  it 
averages  40'-60'  and  yet  none  of  the  air  shafts  sunk  from 
surface  show  any  signs  of  the  overlying  Kittanning  middle 
bed  C.  The  measures  immediately  over  bed  B  seem  to  be 
everywhere  a  dense  gray  sand  rock  strongly  resembling  the 
Clarion  sandstone  thus  differing  materially  from  the  Snow 
Shoe  region  where  black  slates  largely  predominate.  The 
air  shaft  back  of  No.  1  should  give  nearly -80'  of  cover  but 
as  it  had  been  only  carried  down  15'  in  loose  rock  at  time 
of  inspection,  no  results  of  the  section  down  to  bed  B 
could  be  obtained. 

No.  2  drift  further  1ST.  W.  along  grade  is  70'  lower  on  dip 
or  1605'  A.  T. 

It  had  been  driven  75'  S.  E.  against  dip  and  showed  at 
face,  (Fig.  21,  page  61)  :— 

Slate  roof. 

Coal,  with  strings  of  sulphur,  though  generally  good,   .   .   .  3'    1" 

Slate  parting,  persistent, 0'    8" 

Coal,  0'  11" 

Fire  clay  floor. 

The  coal  here  seemed  rather  dirty,  but  the  drift  was 
hardly  far  enough  in  to  judge  of  the  true  character  of  the 
bed.  ' 

No.  3  drift  is  at  head  of  Buck  hollow,  a  small  stream 
flowing  N".  W.  into  the  Moshannon  and  meeting  coarse  con- 
glomerate a  short  distance  north  of  railroad  grade. 

This  drift  is  about  75'  above  railroad  which  shows  in  cut 
massive  blue  sandstone  carrying  intercalated  shales  impreg- 
nated with  ore  balls,  and  showing  a  wavy  bedding. 

Coal  measure  shales  show  in  west  end  of  this  cut.  This 
same  sandstone,  no  doubt  the  upper  (Homewood  S.  S.) 


88  T.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

member  of  XII,  is  well  exposed  25'  thick  in  the  next  cut 
just  east  of  tunnel  entrance. 

The  cut  to  the  east  towards  Briartown  summit  shows  6' 
of  fire  clay  and  a  slight  coal  seam  (A',)  overlaid  with  10' 
of  bluish  shales  and  ore  balls. 

A  section  of  bed  B  at  No.  3  drift  at  first  west  heading 
shows,  (Fig.  22,  page  61)  :— 

Sandstone  top. 

Slate  roof, V  11" 

Coal, 0'  11" 

Bone  and  slate, 0'      \" 

Coal,  good, 2'  10" 

Sulphur  seam, 0'      *'' 

Coal,      0'    6'"' 

Slate, 0'  10 

Coal,     0  10" 

Floor  sandy  fire  clay, 0'    8''-.- 

This  section  shows  the  varying  character  of  the  slate 
partings. 

The  main  bench  of  coal  2'  10"  thick  is  columnar  and  lus- 
trous. 

The  sandstone  is  irregularly  bedded  and  friable.  Hill 
cover  about  60'. 

No.  4  drift  is  opened  about  500  yards  S.  E.  at  an  elevation 
of  1723'  just  south  of  Moshannon  road. 

The  bed  here  showed  as  follows  : 

Slate  roof. 

Coal,       3'    2"-3'    4" 

Slate  parting, 0'    8"-0'  10" 

Coal,  dirty,      0'  10" 

Floor  not  seen. 

The  bed  soon  passes  out  into  the  air  on  south  side  of  the 
hill  and  no  coal  has  thus  far  been  found  south  of  the  Little 
Moshannon. 

About  a  mile  S.  W.  of  No.  4,  and  south  of  public  road 
to  Philipsburg  No.  5  drift,  is  opened  in  same  bed  at  1715' 
A.  T. 

The  bed  here  has  but  little  cover  and  reaches  over  an  area 
of  about  50  acres.  The  drift  was  driven  about  25'  and  was 
boarded  up  at  face  somewhat  concealing  the  following  sec- 
tion, (Fig.  23,  page  61) : 


SNOW  SHOE  BASIN.  T4.  89 

Sandy  shales  and  slate  roof. 

Coal,  dull,   .   .                 2'  6 

Sulphur  in  bony  slate, 0'  1' 

Coal,  slaty, 0'  7' 

Slate  parting,  persistent, 08 

Coal,  soft,           0'  9' 

Fire  clay  floor, 3'  0'  -f- 

It  is  doubtful  whether  any  of  the  hills  to  the  south-west 
between  Little  and  Big  Moshannon  creeks  are  high  enough 
to  catch  any  of  the  coal  measures. 

At  the  Moshannon  tunnel. 

On  west  side  of  divide  and  west  of  road  over  summit  to 
Peale,  the  contractors  of  tunnel  opened  a  drift  in  bed  A  for 
local  use  on  railroad,  100'  (?)  according  to  Mr.  Hopkins  be- 
low bed  B  on  hill  top.  It  was  not  examined,  but  is  said  to 
have  furnished  a  very  fair  quality  of  coal. 

The  east  tunnel  entrance  is  1489'  A.  T.  on  grade.  The 
Moshannon  creek  below  at  bridge  crossing  is  about  1200', 
showing  No.  XI  just  east  sinking  under  creek  level. 

The  surface  of  ground  above  tunnel  is  1643',  showing  the 
intra-conglomerate  bed  before  mentioned  at  1520'  in  a  com- 
pact bedded  blue  sandstone  overlaid  with  soft  sandy  shales, 
and  two  benches  higher  up  at  about  1560'  and  1620'. 

Identifying  the  first  of  these  as  A,  and  allowing  for  a 
thickness  of  75'  for  XI  and  a  rise  of  75'  in  the  half  mile 
from  creek  to  tunnel  we  get  a  thickness  here  of  about  300' 
for  the  conglomerate  series  No.  XII. 

These  coals  continue  to  dip  N.  W.  in  Clearfield  county, 
catching  bed  B  in  the  hill  tops  around  Peale  at  about  1550' 
A.  T.  and  sinking  to  the  synclinal  north  of  Peale  to  about 
1500'  before  rising  on  to  the  First  or  Laurel  hill  axis. 

West  of  tunnel  an  iron  ore  seam  shows  in  Wild  Cat  Hol- 
low at  an  elevation  of  about  1465'  in  XII. 

The  rather  soft  and  shaly  nature  of  the  upper  member  of 
XII  through  the  tunnel  hill— mostly  a  fine-grained  gray 
sandstone  with  coal  specks  and  bearing  many  good  fossil 
imprints— accounts  for  the  very  rapid  work  of  driving  this 
tunnel  1300'  long  in  about  five  months.  The  grade  is  .8  of 
a  foot  in  100'. 


90  T4.       REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D^INVILLIERS. 

Goal  measures  between  Snow  Shoe  and  the  tunnel. 

These  lower  coals  cross  at  various  places  along  grade  of 
Beech  Creek  Railroad  between  Snow  Shoe  summit  and 
Rock  run.  Good  fern  and  leaf  impressions  are  found  in 
the  big  slate  cut  at  AsTcey 's  Summit,  above  and  below  the 
small  (Gorman  ?)  coal  bed  before  mentioned  as  probably 
intermediate  between  the  Kittanning  middle  and  upper 
beds. 

This  bed,  however,  makes  a  marked  bench  in  hill  side 
south  of  grade  in  the  Samuel  Wetherill  tract  of  the  SS. 
Land  Co.,  where  some  old  drifts  have  been  run  on  it. 

It  displays  local  enlargements  here. 

It  again  shows  in  first  cut  south  of  bridge,  largely  inter- 
bedded  with  slate  and  underlaid  with  fire  clay  and  a  blue 
siliceous  sand  rock.  A  decided  pitch  towards  the  Mo- 
shannon  creek  is  seen  in  this  cut. 

In  second  cut  from  summit  west  the  measures  are  waved, 
where  coal  first  shows  on  top  of  cut  at  each  end,  pitches 
down  S.  W.  to  grade  in  centre,  where  it  thickens  temjw- 
rarily  before  taking  another  roll. 

The  same  smut,  nowhere  over  10"  thick,  appears  in  next 
(3rd)  cut,  where  it  is  fully  40'  lower  than  at  Summit  cut. 
A  section  here  shows  : 

Surface. 

Loose  sand  top, 2'-4' 

Gray  shales, 10' 

Coal,         0'  10" 

Fire  clay, • 6'+ 

Shales,      4' 

Blue  sand  rock, 4'-6' 

The  coal  rises  going  west  out  of  cut  and  at  south-west 
end  a  much  larger  smut  1  to  3  feet  thick  (C  ?)  comes  in  un- 
der the  sand  rock  and  overlaid  with  gray  slate.  A  coal  bed 
3'  thick  shows  in  the  fourth  cut,  beyond  bridge  over  small 
stream,  overlaid  with  20'  of  black  slate,  with  a  soapy  tex- 
ture. This  is  probably  the  Kittanning  lower  bed  B,  as  the 
next  bed  shows  Clarion  sandstone  with  a  small  coal  bed  (A') 
very  much  broken  and  shaly. 

The  sandstone  is  buff -colored  when  weathered  but  shows 
a  fine-grained  gray  sandstone  15 '-25'  thick  where  freshly 
broken. 


BEECH  CREEK    BASIX.  T4.  91 

The  basin  edges  up  in  this  direction  at  about  Rock 
run,  the  cuts  to  the  west  being  in  XII. 

The  hills  to  north  show  some  coal  slates  and  possibly 
patches  of  the  lower  beds,  but  are  of  little  importance. 


Beech  Creek  basin. 

This  basin  is  but  an  eastern  extension  of  the  Snow  Shoe 
trough  jnst  described.  As  yet  no  developments  have  been 
made,  the  wild  and  rugged  nature  of  the  district  and  the 
inaccessibility  of  its  coal  beds,  hitherto  without  railroad 
communication  having  combined  to  keep  this  field  in  the 
background  in  the  face  of  the  more  advantageously  located 
beds  at  Snow  Shoe. 

The  highest  coal  bed  in  this  region  is  the  Kittanning  up- 
per bed  C'  which  occurs  in  small  patches  on  the  highest 
hills  as  far  east  as  Wolf  run  ;  but  beyond  that  point  the  rise 
of  the  basin  carries  even  this  bed  into  the  air  and  in  the 
succeeding  hills  eastward  to  the  Clinton  county  line,  leaves 
only  patches  of  the  underlying  measures. 

The  continuity  of  the  measures  is  everywhere  interrupted 
by  the  numerous  streams  entering  Beech  creek  from  the 
north  and  south,  confining  the  coal  deposits  to  the  hills 
between  them  and  showing  in  their  channels  exposures  of 
the  subcarboniferous  rocks. 

Thus  the  red  line  of  No.  XI  Mauch  Chunk  red  shale 
indicates  the  rise  of  the  basin  eastward  bringing  that  forma- 
tion to  daylight  on  Beech  creek  near  Gray's  splash  dam, 
and  rising  gradually  from  that  point  eastward  until  it  passes 
into  Clinton  county  high  in  tne  hills  and  exposing  prob- 
ably 200'+  of  Pocono  sandstone  No.  X  along  the  creek  bot- 
tom. The  outcrop  line  as  marked  on  the  map  is  only  ap- 
proximate, as  this  formation  is  almost  everywhere  covered 
with  boulders  and  drift  from  the  overlying  conglomerate 
rocks  which  flank  Beech  creek  in  precipitious  bluffs  as  far 
west  as  the  Pancake  mill. 

The  hills  through  the  region  rise  several  hundred  feet 
above  the  creek  in  places  and  are  almost  everywhere  wild 
and  uncultivated. 


92  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

In  Curtin  Twp.  the  synclinal  axis  is  apparently  to  the 
north  of  Beech  creek  and  it  is  possible  that  there  may  be 
some  representation  of  the  Furney  axis  of  Clinton  county  to 
the  south  as  is  evidenced  by  the  south  dips  north  of  Beech 
creek  along  Two  runs,  Eddy  Lick  and  Panther  creek, 
though  the  roll  is  a  gentle  one  and  can  not  be  noticed 
further  west  than  last  named  creek. 

Thus  the  coal  south  of  Beech  creek  along  Hay's  run 
may  belong  more  properly  to  the  Tangascootac  basin  of 
Clinton  county  while  those  to  the  north  forming  more 
properly  the  Beech  Creek- Snow  Shoe  trough  lie  in  the  flat 
synclinal  between  the  Furney  and  Hyner  axes. 

The  distinction  is  one  of  little  practical  importance, 
however,  for  the  amount  of  coal  there  is  insignificant. 

Coal  beds  South  of  Beech  Creek. 

The  high  hill  south  of  Beech  creek  and  east  of  Hay's  run 
has  probably  a  small  patch  of  the  Kittanriing  lower  bed  (B)  on 
its  western  end ;  but  rising  eastward  it  soon  passes  into  the 
air  and  leaves  only  the  Brookville  and  Clarion  coals  on  the 
summit  near  the  Liberty  township  line. 

Coal  hill  between  Hay's  run  and  Beech  creek  also  con- 
tains a  small  amount  of  these  lower  coals,  though  very 
little,  if  any  ground  is  high  enough  in  Snow  Shoe  Twp.  south 
of  Counsel  run  to  retain  any  of  the  coal  measures,  which 
edge  up  rapidly  here  towards  the  Allegheny  plateau. 

At  Morrison' s  camp  at  mouth  of  Three  Rock  run  there 
is  a  considerable  thickness  of  No.  X  exposed  in  the  precip- 
itous hill  sides.  Coal  A  ?  is  opened  about  430'  (barometric) 
above  creek,  to  the  south  on  lands  of  Midland  Mining  Com- 
pany. 

This  company  owns  large  bodies  of  land  through  this 
region,  about  3000  acres  south  of  Beech  creek,  5700  acres  in 
the  Trullinger  lands  along  Sandy  run,  1300  acres  in  the  West 
tracts,  and  6000  or  7000  acres  north  of  creek  along  Big  run, 
Two  and  Three  Rock  runs,  and  Eddy  Lick. 

South  50°  west  from  splash  dam  the  hills  are  high  enough 
to  get  small  areas  of  the  Kittanning  upper  C',  though  this 
bed  was  not  identified  east  of  Wolf  run  as  already  stated. 


BEECH  CREEK   BASIN.  T4.  93 

There  are  from  140'-155'  of  coal  measures  here,  to  hill  top 
750'  above  creek. 

Coal  Hill  measures. 

Four  coal  beds  have  been  opened  in  trial  shafts  on  north- 
east end  of  Coal  hill. 

The  Kittanning  lower  bed  B  has  been  opened  about 
£  mile  west  along  north  face  of  hill  overlooking  creek. 
The  drift  shows  a  slight  south-east  dip,  which  is  not 
unusual  in  outcrop  coal  owing  to  the  effects  of  frost  and 
erosion  at  the  surface.  At  the  same  time  it  may  be  the 
result  of  the  Fnrney  anticlinal  to  the  north.  The  bed  crops 
at  the  south  side  of  hill  at  a  higher  elevation  and  shows  a 
pitch  to  south-west  of  about  30'  per  mile,  comparing  its  ele- 
vation here  with  that  obtained  at  east  end  of  hill. 

The  following  section  of  bed  was  taken  in  drift  about  30' 
in  from  mouth  (Fig.  24,  page  61):- — 

Black  slate  roof. 

Block  or  cannel  coal,  worthless, 0' 4|" 

Coal,  bard  and  dull, 0'  6i" 

Slate  parting,  sulphury 0'  7" 

Coal,  good, 3'  1" 

Fire  clay. 

This  shows  an  enlargement  of  the  lower  bench  as  com- 
pared with  the  Tunnel  Mines. 

The  coal  is  friable  and  columnar,  and  is  well  spoken  of 
by  the  smiths  along  railroad  who  used  it  during  the  con- 
struction of  the  B.  C.,  C.  &  S.  W.  KR. 

An  analysis  of  the  coal  from  sample  sent  Mr.  McCreath 
by  the  Midland  Coal  Company,  June  15,  1883,  gave  : 

Water, 716 

Volatile  matter, 23.554 

Fixed  carbon, 65.778 

Sulphur, 787 

Ash, 9.165 

Total, 100.000 

Coke  per  cent.  75.730.     Color  of  ash,  cream. 

The  hill  has  flattened  away  so  much  coming  west  as  to 
show  a  covering  here  of  only  about  45'.  Below  it  there  are 
two  benches  partially  opened. 


94  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

About  2  miles  south-west  on  theFishburn-Wharton  tract, 
adjoining  the  Midland  Mining  Co.'s  land,  the  "Job  Packer 
drift ' '  was  run  some  years  ago.  The  drift  is  40'  higher  and 
further  south  than  the  last-mentioned  opening  and  is  prob- 
ably on  the  Brookoitte  coal  A.  The  opening  was  very  much 
closed  up  and  the  old  timbers  squeezed  out.  The  bed  is 
said  to  have  measured  4'  4"  from  roof  to  floor,  with  4"-6" 
slate  parting. 

I  saw  nearly  4'  of  coal  here  with  a  blue  slate  roof,  and 
300  yards  east,  on  the  William  Yardley  tract  of  the  Mid- 
land Co.,  a  daylight  drift  showed  at  face  of  same  bed  the 
following  section  (Fig.  25,  page  60.): — 

Bluish  black  slate  roof. 

Coal  fair,  glossy, 0'  7' 

Slate,  .   .  0'  4" 

Coal  cannel—  dull,     0'  3" 

Coal  columnar, 2'  6  '  • 

Fire  clay  floor. 

An  analysis  of  a  mixed  sample  of  both  benches  of  this 
bed  made  by  McCreath  under  the  same  circumstances  as 
the  sample  of  the  Kittanning  lower  already  given,  showed  : 

Water,        544 

Volatile  matter, 22.411 

Fixed  carbon, 60.901 

Sulphur, 834 

Ash, 15.310 

Coke  per  cent.,  77.045.     Color  of  ash,  gray. 

North  of  Beech  Creek. 

North  of  Beech  Creek  in  this  township  the  lower  coal 
beds  run  up  for  about  3  miles,  though  often  interrupted 
by  cross  streams.  No  personal  examination  of  this  wil- 
derness was  possible  with  the  limited  time  at  my  dis- 
posal, nor  would  it  have  been  productive  of  much  ben- 
efit, owing  to  the  distortions  of  the  maps  of  this  region 
and  the  filling  in  of  the  trial  shafts  located  there. 

Mr.  Isaac  Harvey  spent  considerable  time  in  this  locality 
for  the  Midland  Mining  Co.  and  reports  the  south  outcrop 
of  the  coal  measure  at  about  450'  above  Beech  creek.  He 
made  several  openings  on  A  and  B  beds  and  gives  the 


BEECH  CREEK   BASIN.  T.  95 

Brookmlle  bed  A  a  thickness  of  3'+,  the  Clarion  A'®'  and  Kit- 
tanning  lower  bed  B  from  4 -6"  to  4/-10//  thick,  with  a  slate 
parting  of  3"  to  5"  inches  under  the  upper  bench  of  coal 
10"  thick.  He  also  reports  that  patches  of  the  Kittanning 
middle  coal  bed,  coal  C,  exist  3'  thick  and  slaty,  and  even  the 
small  local  bed  of  the  Snow  Shoe  region  20'-25'  above  C, 
with  the  same  excellent  peacock  coal  1'  2"  thick. 

East  of  Big  run  proper  the  hills  seem  to  be  everywhere 
capped  with  XII.  But  west  the  above  measures  come  in, 
the  highest  (C)  bed  being  confined  to  the  northern  part  of 
the  tinted  area  on  map,  the  coals  shoaling  rapidly  as  they 
rise  on  to  the  Pine  Glen-Hyner  axis. 

Between  Two  and  Three  Rock  runs  the  country  is  gener- 
ally low  and  barren  ;  but  west  of  the  former  towards  the 
Hogback  tunnel  and  north  of  Beech  creek  some  acres  of 
bed  B  crown  the  hill  top. 

This  tunnel  is  300'  long  in  No.  X,  the  hill  rising  75 '=t 
above  grade.  A  thin  seam  of  coal  is  reported  to  exist 
in  the  Pocono  SS.  here. 

Eddy  Lick  shows  no  coal  for  some  distance  above  its 
mouth  and  then  catches  only  the  lowest  beds. 

Its  junction  with  Beech  creek  is  by  barometer  130'  above 
Morrison's  camp  or  1025'  A.  T. — the  latter  being  89o'. 

Going  up  hill  to  south  of  Beech  creek  to  the  Fisher 
tracts  and  "Red  Dave''  McCloskey's,  red  shale  (No.  XI) 
shows  180'  above  creek.  There  is  about  125'  of  coal  meas- 
ures here,  the  highest  knob  catching  the  little  2'  (Gorman) 
bed  o*er  the  Kittanning  middle,  everywhere  distinguished 
by  its  hard  black  slate  roof  in  contrast  with  the  sulphury 
blue  smut  slate  of  the  underlying  C  bed.  The  hill  breaks 
between  here  and  J.  Walker's,  but  carries  the  Kittan- 
ning lower  bed  B  throughout,  with  the  two  upper  Kittan- 
ning beds  C  and  C'  in  knob  east  of  his  house. 

Westward  towards  Snow  Shoe  the  hill  tops  all  seem  to  be 
XII,  exposing  a  coarse  conglomerate  on  road  to  Cato 
bridge. 

Walker's  porch  is  about  1445  A.  T.  The  bench  mark  in 
grade  at  mouth  of  small  run  leadingdown  from  hismeadow 


96  T4.        REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

is  1152  A.  T.  and  Cato  bridge  about  1174'  No.  XI  passes 
under  water  level  midway  between  this  point  and  the  mouth 
of  Wolf  run  at  about  1130'  A.  T.  The  mouth  of  Big  Sandy 
is  about  300  yards  below  (east)  of  Walker's  run  and  about 
10'  lower  in  elevation  or  1142'.  South  of  the  south  branch 
of  Counsel  run,  back  of  Walkers,  all  the  hills  seem  to  be 
XII  to  their  summits. 

Between  its  two  branches  on  the  James  McManus  tract 
there  are  the  lowest  coals,  with  probably  bed  B  on  top. 
The  conglomerate,  passing  under  ground  south  of  Counsel 
run  comes  out  again  south  of  Beech  creek,  making  a  bold 
and  rugged  terrace  about  300'±  above  creek. 

Cato  Coal  Field. 

A  coal  bed  was  exposed  in  an  old  drift  close  to  public 
road  about  £  mile  south  of  Walker's  run  46'  above  his  house 
at  1450'  A.  T.  If  I  am  right  in  identifying  this  as  bed  A 
(and  Conglomerate  bowlders  show  a  short  distance  below  it) 
No.  XII  has  a  thickness  of  about  280'  measured  from  the 
presumed  outcrop  of  XI  in  creek  and  allowing  for  the  rise 
of  the  measures  south-east 

About  300  yards  south-east  of  the  old  Cooke  shanty,  now 
occupied  by  D.  McCloskey,  coal  was  opened  many  years 
ago  at  the  head  of  Logway  run  (a  brancli  of  Beech  creek 
mouthing  at  the  Hogback.)  It  has  been  worked  at  short 
intervals  each  year  for  local  use,  and  quite  actively  in  1883 
for  the  smith  shops  along  the  Beech  Creek  R.  R. 

Most  of  the  work  has  been  "grubbing"  along  the  line  of 
crop,  as  the  bed  has  been  opened  with  the  dip  on  its  south 
outcrop  and  consequently  liable  to  be  drowned  out. 

The  opening  by  barometer  is  62'  below  McCloskey' s,  and 
is  probably  on  bed  A,  as  conglomerate  appears  in  the  hill 
on  the  south  side  of  the  run. 

The  bed  is  claimed  4'  thick,  but  the  following  section  only 
showed  in  the  fall  of  1883  (Fig.  26,  page  60)  :— 

Sandstone,  brown  and  gray, 2'-f- 

Black  slate  and  bone  coal, 1'  6" 

Slate, 0'  6" 

Coal,  bottom  not  seen, 2'  2"-f 


BEECH  GREEK   BASIN.  T*.  97 

The  coal  is  columnar  and  lustrous,  and  shows  compara- 
tively little  sulphur  or  impurity  in  the  lower  bench. 

This  bed  covers  considerable  territory  here,  and  if  regu- 
larly opened  against  dip  from  the  north  side  of  hill,  might 
prove  profitable.  The  opening  is  on  the  Samuel  Fisher  tract. 

About  one  mile  W.  N.  W.  what  appears  to  be  the  same 
bed  has  been  opened  on  the  north  side  of  the  hill  on  the  James 
Hale  tract  owned  by  Henry  Croskey,  but  known  as  part  of 
the  Say  lor  lands.  The  opening  is  in  sight  of  Gray's  splash 
dam,  about  f  miles  N.  42°  W.  in  the  hollow  of  Beech  creek. 

By  barometer  it  is  only  about  10'  below  the  opening  on 
Logway  run,  and  if  identical  with  it,  shows  the  pitch  of 
the  measures  to  be  very  slight  here. 

It  is  but  little  further  north  than  the  McCloskey  drift, 
and,  consequently,  no  difference  of  elevation  due  to  dip  was 
to  be  expected.  Conglomerate  is  in  place  about  40'  below 
drift,  the  interval  between  being  concealed.  The  sides  of 
drift  were  boarded  up,  and  no  examination  of  the  bed  here 
was  possible. 

It  makes  quite  a  distinct  bench  along  the  north  face  of 
the  hill  west  400  yards  on  to  the  James  McManus  tract, 
where  three  beds  have  been  partially  opened  above  it. 

A  section  here  shows  somewhat  as  follows  (Pig.  27,  page 
58)  :— 

Hill  top. 

Interval  concealed, , 42' 

4.  Coal,  drifted  upon  and  reported, 3'  6' 

Fireclay, 2' 

Concealed  measures,  mostly  slates, 100' 

3.  Coal,  impure  and  bony, 26" 

Interval  slates,  22' 

2.  Coal,  opened  and  reported,  2'  to  3'  6" 

Slates  and  heavy  sandstone, 60' 

1.  Coal,  reported.  3'to4'0'' 

Fire  clay,  shale  and  slates,      40' 

Conglomerate,       — 

A  great  mass  of  black  slate  has  been  taken  out  of  No.  2, 
and  these  slates  seem  to  replace,  to  great  degree,  the  sand- 
stones of  the  measures.  No.  2  drift  is  50'-(-  long,  and  is  re- 
ported to  have  shown  2  to  3i  feet  of  good  coal. 

No.  3  shows  considerable  bone  and  slate,  and  No.  4  is  a 
7T4. 


98  T4.       REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

good,  free,  lustrous  coal,  of  excellent  character.  The  large 
interval  between  3  and  4  is  noticeable. 

The  ridge  holding  these  coals  is  very  narrow,  so  that  but 
little  tonnage  could  be  won  from  the  upper  beds. 

West,  however,  on  the  other  side  of  the  cove,  the  hill  is 
broader  and  slightly  higher  near  Ed.  Walker' s,  and  carries 
a  considerable  acreage  of  these  coals.  They  all  dip  north- 
west. None  of  the  openings  were  examined. 


Coals  north  of  Beech  Creek. 

Big  Sandy  creek  receives  the  waters  of  Beauty  run  about 
2£  miles  above  its  mouth. 

The  hills  between  the  latter  and  branches  of  Wolf  run 
contain  the  lowest  coal  beds,  which  is  likewise  true  of  the 
Panther  creek  country,  though  the  hills  are  bare  there  and 
the  amount  of  outcrop  coal  small. 

On  the  West  tract  of  the  Midland  Mining  Company  a  shaft 
was  sunk  300  or  400  yards  north  of  Big  Sandy,  close  to  the 
south  line  of  this  tract. 

It  was  14'  deep  to  coal.  No  measurements  could  be  made 
here,  as  it  was  partially  filled  up,  but  the  dump  showed  an 
excellent  quality  of  coal,  free  from  sulphur. 

Conglomerate  occurs  not  far  below  it  towards  creek  bed, 
and  its  position  indicates  it  being  the  Brookville  bed  A.  If 
so,  it  is  greatly  enlarged  and  improved. 

The  men  who  dug  the  shaft  give  its  thickness  as  6£  feet 
from  roof  to  floor,  showing  on  top  slate  and  cannel  coal, 
and  a  slate  parting,  but  bearing  5'  6"  of  mining  coal  in  two 
benches.  I  cannot  vouch  for  these  measurements.  The 
roof  slate  is  firm,  and  the  bed  gets  sufficient  cover  to  insure 
good  coal. 

Another  shaft  nearer  outcrop  showed  a  less  thickness. 
The  hill  to  north  rises  100'  above  this  bed. 

The  pitch  is  to  the  south-west,  carrying  this  bed  to  creek 
level  in  the  Snow  Shoe  lands. 

Northwards,  after  being  cut  off  by  a  cove,  it  catches  in 
again  on  the  next  west  tract,  with  sufficient  cover  for  two 
more  coal  beds.  Up  the  hill  eastward  63'  above  the  lowest 


BEECH  CREEK   BASIX.  T4.  99 

bed  a  shaft  had  been  started  on  a  bench  (B  ?)  showing  a 
gray,  soapy  slate  cover,  but  had  not  then  struck  coal. 

Higher  up  hill  50'  smut  and  muddy  slates  indicate  C  or 
the  Kittanning  middle,  over  which,  toward  the  Hugh  Dallas 
tract,  the  hard,  black  slates  of  the  intermediate  bed  fre- 
quently mentioned,  are  exposed.  At  all  events,  the  lower 
bed  is  under  good  cover  and  occupies  considerable  area. 

On  the  west  side  of  Spring  Run  branch  to  Sandy,  north 
of  the  old  cabin,  the  bench  and  3'  of  smut  of  the  lowest 
(A  ?)  bed  is  exposed. 

Above  this  and  around  hill  to  N.  W.  on  Wm.  West's 
tract,  Mr.  Harvey  reports  coal  (B)  4?  thick  at  outcrop. 
The  opening  is  75'  above  the  lowest  bed  though  the  interval 
is  somewhat  increased  by  lying  further  to  the  N.  W. 

These  coal  dips  to  south-east,  lying  on  north  side  of  basin. 

Northwards  the  hill  rises  probably  75'  to  100'  and  catches 
the  Kittanning  middle  and  overlying  small  bed,  though  the 
latter  only  in  patches  and  12-15  inches  thick. 

In  the  country  south-west  of  the  Big  Sandy  the  hill  rises 
fully  high  enough  to  catch  C,  rising  from  the  Sugar  Camp 
region  further  west,  though  the  Freeport  lower  bed  D  does 
not  extend  further  east  than  the  main  Sugar  Camp  hill. 

The  synclinal  axis  through  this  hill  must  pass  somewhere 
near  the  forks  of  Big  Sandy  and  Beauty  runs  as  the  coals 
north  of  the  junction  all  dip  south-east.  The  country  to  the 
south  over  which  the  Snow  Shoe-Cato  road  passes  is  evi- 
dently not  high  enough  to  retain  any  but  the  lowest  coal 
measure  slates,  if  that.  It  has  been  colored  XII  on  map, 
as  no  bench  could  be  distinguished. 

The  Trullinger  lands. 

The  Trullinger  lands  lying  1£  miles  directly  N.  W. 
of  Sugar  Camp  evidently  retain  nearly  the  same  measures 
though  none  of  the  Freeport  lower  limestone  was  found 
there.  These  comprise  four  tracts  lying  between  Big  and 
Little  Sandy  creeks:  Wm.  Bingham,  Andrew  Bayard, 
Person  Hunt,  and  Polly  McClamihan.  The  two  latter  being 
the  most  northerly  catch  only  the  lowest  beds  in  their 


100  T4.     EEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

southern  extremities  being  mostly  covered  with  the  con- 
glomerate measures. 

Quite  an  acreage  of  the  Kittanning  upper  bed  C'  occurs 
in  the  Bingham  tract,  extending  east  probably  into  the 
the  Bayard,  but  cut  off  on  the  south-east  by  a  cove  before 
the  hill  rises  again  on  the  Snow  Shoe  lands  in  Sugar  Camp 
nearer  the  centre  of  the  basin. 

This  property  has  been  quite  extensively  tested  ;  but  the 
shafts  were  all  filled  in  so  that  I  can  only  give  reported 
thicknesses,  well  corroborated,  however,  by  several  parties 
who  have  examined  the  beds. 

Thus  the  Kittanning  lower  bed  B  is  reported  4';  C  has 
been  struck  in  half  a  dozen  shafts,  slaty  but  4'-4£'  thick ; 
while  the  C'  bed  has  quite  as  good  an  appearance  as  at 
Sugar  Camp.  It  has  a  cover  of  20'-30'  of  hard  shale  with 
but  little  signs  of  the  Freeport  sandstone  unless  in  loose 
pieces  on  the  top  of  the  hill. 

The  small  bed  between  the  middle  and  upper  Kittanning 
is  also  opened  here,  showing  beautiful  lustrous  coal  2'  to  26 
inches  thick  with  a  hard  slate  roof.  Its  frequent  presence 
throughout  the  basin  indicates  it  being  every  where  a  persist- 
ent but  commercially  worthless  bed.  All  these  coals  dip 
S.  E.,  especially  well  seen  in  the  big  drift  on  the  west  side 
of  little  Sandy  creek. 

Kittanning  lower  bed  B  has  been  opened  in  several  places 
on  the  Person  Hunt  tract,  with  good  thickness,  rising  rap- 
idly towards  the  anticlinal.  This  axis  shows  evidence  of  a 
jog  here  southwards,  for  in  the  country  west  from  here  the 
coal  measures  extend  much  further  north,  an  effect  aided 
by  the  flattening  of  the  arch  in  that  direction. 

Little  Sandy  Greek  Coals. 

On  grade  at  Pancake  mill  the  elevation  above  tide  is  1410'. 

Going  north-west  along  road  on  the  narrow  hill  between 
Cherry  run  and  Little  Sandy  the  successive  benches  of  A, 
B,  C,  and  C'  are  seen  with  the  latter  opened  on  hill  top. 
The  ridge  is  narrow  though  and  rises  rapidly  to  catch  the 
Kittanning  upper  bed  C'  and  then  falls  off  again.  This 
road  leads  into  M.  Hartlme's  and  the  Trullinger  lands. 


BEECH  CREEK  BASIN.  T.  101 

On  the  hill  summit  north  from  the  C' bench  and  about  2£ 
miles  in  from  the  mill  a  small  shaft  was  put  down  just  east 
of  the  road  on  what  is  apparently  the  little  Gorman  bed, 
which  showed  here  its  usual  character  of  2'  of  coal  overlaid 
with  hard  blue  slate.  This  is  about  415'  (barometer)  above 
grade  at  mill,  or  1825'  A.  T.  The  Kittanning  upper  coal 
has  passed  into  the  air  to  the  south. 

The  road  keeps  along  the  crest  until  the  south  line  of  the 
Trullinger  tracts  is  reached  where  the  hill  top  is  13'  higher 
at  1838'  A.  T.,  and  may  still  retain  this  small  bed. 

But  descending  east  side  of  hill  towards  Solt's  camp  on 
Little  Sandy  a  large  bed  has  been  opened  on  the  George  Har- 
rison tract*  at  1795' A.  T.  or  42'  below  crest.  Between 
these  two  points  no  coal  bench  is  visible,  but  the  following 
section  of  face  of  the  bed  in  a  monkey  drift  will  at  once 
strike  the  eye  as  abnormal,  (Fig.  28,  page  61) : — 

Sandy,  broken  slate  cover, 2'  6" 

Smut  and  soft  coal, 2'   4' 

Slate,  2'   6' 

Bone  coal  and  slate, 0'   8' 

Slate, 0  10' 

Coal,      0'  9' 

Slate,  thin— not  persistent, 0  to  0'  3 

Coal  (bottom  not  seen),  lustrous, 4'  9' 

This  bottom  coal  could  not  be  measured  owing  to  falling 
in  of  drift,  but  is  said  to  have  shown  5'  clear. 

Little  Sandy  creek  below  is  62'  lower  and  shows  coarse- 
grained sandstone  bowlders  (XII  ?) 

This  bed  is  possibly  the  Kittanning  lower  B  locally  en- 
larged. 

The  line  of  fault  N.  8°  E., already  described  in  No.  8  Snow 
Shoe  mine,  if  continued  through  Hoy's  land  would  pass 
close  to  this  opening,  and  may  have  had  some  effect  in  pro- 
ducing this  remarkable  section. 

Three  analyses  of  coals  from  these  tracts  were  furnished 
me  by  the  Midland  Mining  Co.  made  from  samples  sent  Mr. 
McCreath  in  June.  1883 : 

No.  1,  labeled  "Coal  from  bed  B,  Trullinger  lands,  ob- 
tained from  shaft  12'  deep." 

>  These  figures  are  barometric. 


102  T4.     KEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D' INVILLIERS. 

No.  2,  coal  from  bed  C,  Trullinger  lands,  obtained  from 
shaft  10'  deep. 

No.  3,  coal  from  bed  D,  (C'  ?,)  Trullinger  lands,  obtained 
from  shaft  20'  deep.  Height  of  cover  35  to  40'. 

(1.)  (2.)  (3.) 

Water, 680  1.826  .944 

Volatile  matter, 24.225  26.094  23.096 

Fixed  carbon, 67.061  64.065  67.947 

Sulphur,     1.129  .990  .738 

Ash,      4.895  7.025  7.275 

Total, JIOOXMX)          100.000          100.000 

Coke  per  cent, 75.095  72.080  75.960 

Color  of  ash, Cream,         Brown,  Gray. 

In  general,  the  coals  of  this  Beech  creek  extension  are  too 
little  developed  to  warrant  an  opinion  of  their  value.  At 
best  but  few  shafts  have  been  spread  over  a  very  great  area, 
and  the  large  percentage  of  ash  and  sulphur  in  the  coals 
analysed  are  in  a  great  measure,  due  to  the  fact  that  mainly 
outcropping  coal  was  sampled. 

The  completion  of  the  Beech  creek  railroad  through  this 
section  may  lead  to  renewed  efforts  to  develop,  but  the 
operation  will  be  costly  and  hardly  warranted  now  by  the 
position  or  extent  of  the  beds. 

To  be  sure  the  coals  of  this  region  have  some  little  advan- 
tage of  proximity  to  market  over  the  Snow  Shoe  basin,  but 
this  advantage  is  much  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the 
advantageous  position  of  the  Snow  Shoe  beds  with  relation 
to  railroad  lines. 

Iron  ores. 

A  few  words  about  the  Snow  Shoe  iron  ores  will  conclude 
this  region,  and  as  no  changes  have  been  made  since  Mr. 
Platt's  inspection  in  1874  I  quote  from  his  report  H  the  fol- 
lowing facts : 

"The  vertical  section  of  the  Snow  Shoe  measures  (Fig.  1, 
page  58,)  shows  the  Freeport  iron  ore  resting  on  top  of  the 
Freeport  limestone ;  the  black  band  ore  in  the  shale  over- 
lying coal  bed  C,  Kittanning  middle,  and  the  iron  ore  over- 
lying coal  bed  A — Brook ville. 

The  Freeport  iron  ore  as  found  in  the  shaft  and  seen  upon 


BEECH  CREEK  BASIN.  T*.  103 

the  outcrops  averages  about  2  feet  (in  all)  of  "ore  and  some 
coal,"  the  Middle  (Lower  ?)  Freeport  coal  two  feet  thick, 
resting  directly  on  top  of  it.  A  specimen  of  the  ore  from 
Yeagher's  place,  west  of  Snow  Shoe  city,  on  analysis  at  the 
laboratory  of  the  survey,  yielded  (McCreath) : — 

Iron,     30.250 

Sulphur,     112 

Phosphorus, 211 

Insoluble  residue, 19.630 

A  specimen  forwarded  by  Mr.  Sommerville  was  probably 
taken  from  the  underlying  limestone,  as  it  yielded  (Mr. 
McCreath) : 

Iron,      5.000 

Sulphur,     599 

Phosphorus, 050 

Carbonate  of  lime, 42.941 

•'          "   magnesia, 22.764 

Insoluble  residue, 18.730 

A  specimen  of  iron  ore  from  McMaster's  place,  near  Snow 
Shoe  city  yielded  (McCreath) : 

Iron,     ' 35.800 

Sulphur,     trace. 

Phosphorus,       204 

Insoluble  residue, 16.050 

A  fair  specimen  of  the  Freeport  limestone  of  the  Snow 
Shoe  basin  was  forwarded  to  Mr.  McCreath  for  an  analysis 
and  yielded : — 

Carbonate  of  lime, 51.153 

"          "   magnesia, 13.265     .   . 

Sulphur,  trace. 

Phosphorus, -287 

The  iron  ore  overlyiny  bed  C  is  a  black  band  iron  ore 
of  good  quality.  It  is  called  a  "20-inch  to  36-inch"  ore 
bed  as  found  in  the  shaft.  Mr.  McCreath  did  not  determine 
the  percentage  of  carbon  carried  by  the  ore,  but  reports 
the  other  constituents  thus  : 

Iron, 29.300 

Sulphur, 010 

Phosphorus, 201 

Insoluble  residue,     17.600 

When  roasted,  this  ore  yielded  in  the  laboratory  (A  the 
Survey  43  per  cent  of  metallic  iron. 


104  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D' INVILLIERS. 

Mr.  Sommerville  also  forwarded  to  the  laboratory  a  speci- 
men of  this  ore  (labeled  clay  band  ore),  and  it  yielded  on 
analysis  (McCreath) : 

Iron, 28.700 

Sulphur, Oil 

Phosphorus, 173 

Carbonate  of  lime, 

Carbonate  of  magnesia, 

Insoluble  residue, 23.600 

The  iron  ore  overlying  coal  bed  A  is  not  now  worked. 
From  the  old  opening  it  was  possible  to  procure  specimens, 
but  not  to  verify  the  reported  thickness  of  the  ore  bed  "4 
feet  in  all."  Two  specimens  yielded  on  analysis  (Mc- 
Creath) : 

(i)  (2). 

Iron, 30.100  32.600 

Sulphur 086  .013 

Phosphorus,         364  .993 

Insoluble  residue,      23.250  20.530 

Just  west  of  the  summit  of  the  Alleghany  mountain,  and 
in  the  bottom  of  the  (Serai)  Conglomerate  of  XII,  pieces  of 
hematite  ore  cover  the  surface,  and  are  found  a  little  below 
it,  over  a  limited  area.  The  line  of  the  ore  is  not  found  ex- 
tending along  the  strike  of  the  measures,  and  there  is  no 
indication  that  a  regular  and  persistent  workable  deposit  is 
to  be  looked  for. 

A  specimen  of  the  ore  yielded  on  analysis  (McCreath) : 

Iron, 41.000 

Sulphur, trace 

Phosphorus,        692 

Insoluble  residue, 25.250 

Philipsburg-Osceola  district  in  the  first  Basin. 

This  western  extension  of  the  Snow  Shoe  trough  is  only 
coal-bearing  between  Black  Bear  run  and  the  western  end 
of  the  county  along  the  Blair-Cambria  county  line. 

The  lowest  coal  beds  of  the  Lower  Productive  Measures 
have  their  south-east  outcrops  just  west  of  Sandy  Ridge,  on 
the  Tyrone  and  Clearfield  R.  R.,  but  are  not  opened  there. 

They  are  seen  outcropping  on  the  railroad  between  Sandy 
Ridge  and  Osceola,  and  the  Kittanning  lower  bed  B  is  exten- 
sively mined  at  Powelton. 


PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA   BASIN.  T*.  106 

Though  the  coal  beds  seem  to  dip  3°  to  4°  north-west  at 
their  exposures  along  railroad,  yet  the  entire  amount  of 
sinking  from  Powelton  (1798"  A.  T.)  to  the  outcrop  of  bed 
B  above  the  railroad  level  at  Osceola  (1500'  A.  T.)  is  not 
quite  300  feet. 

The  synclinal  or  basin  line  passing  through  Osceola  and 
Philipsburg  has  already  been  described.  It  lies  wholly  in 
Clearfield  county.  To  the  north  of  it  the  coal  beds  rise  on 
to  the  First  or  Laurel  Hill  axis. 

The  basin  is  also  sinking  to  the  north-east  as  far  as  Phil- 
ipsburg, east  of  which  it  again  rises  in  the  same  direction 
towards  Morrisdale,  as  already  described,  carrying  the  Free- 
port  lower  (Moshannon)  bed  D  into  the  air  at  that  point. 

The  rising  to  the  south-west  from  Osceola  is  more  gradual, 
and  several  faults  through  this  part  of  the  basin  have  served 
to  keep  the  Moshannon  bed  D  (and,  indeed,  the  Barren 
Measures  overlying  it),  within  the  hills  of  western  Clearfield 
and  Centre  counties. 

There  is  a  section  in  Report  H,  on  page  23,  compiled  by 
Mr.  Platt,  at  Osceola  and  vicinity,*  which  may  be  com- 
pared with  the  Snow  Shoe  Section,  (Fig.  1,  page  58,)  of  this 
report.  It  is  reproduced  in  Fig.  29,  page  58. 

Two  miles  north  of  the  summit,  and  resting  on  top  of  the 
Conglomerate,  are  the  Snady  Ridge  fire  clays;  and  over  them 
mostly  sandstone  35'  to  40'  thick.  Over  this  latter  lies  coal 
bed  A  Brookville,  4'  to  4£'  thick,  though  in  this  part  of  the 
basin  usually  so  slaty  and  sulphurous  as  not  to  be  mined. 

It  outcrops  at  the  Powelton  mill,  arid  a  shaft  put  down 
back  of  railroad  station  is  reported  to  have  struck  the  same 
bed  45  feet  below  the  Kittanning  lower  bed  B. 

Kittanning  lower  bed  B  at  Powelton. 
Over  coal  A  there  occurs  a  few  inches  of  slate,  and  then 
20-25  feet  of  brown  sandstone  described  by  Mr.  Platt,  Re- 
port H,  p.  24,  as  "a  rusty  mass  of  thin  sandstones,  with  an 
occasional  massive  layer,  sometimes  running  into  rusty 
shales  and  slate,  in  places  with  ore  nodules,  hematitic." 

*  A  full  description  of  the  underlying  conglomerate  series  XII  will  be 
found  by  reference  to  the  same  page  of  that  report. 


106  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Over  this,  and  extending  up  to  the  floor  of  bed  B,  is  "a 
hard,  massive  sandstone,  in  some  places  conglomerate,  but 
always  fine  grained  and  much  current  bedded."* 

The  usual  interval  (60  feet)  between  A  and  B  is  here  shown 
by  shaft  to  be  reduced  to  45  feet. 

The  Kittanning  lower  bed  B,  as  already  stated,  outcrops 
at  Powelton.  There  are  three  openings  on  this  bed  here  in 
the  Black  Diamond  Mines  of  the  Powelton  estate. 

The  bed  is  pretty  well  worked  out  in  the  two  southern 
drifts,  but  coal  from  them  is  being  used  in  small  quantities 
for  the  engines  at  the  brick  works. 

No.  1  Black  Diamond  mine  is  opened  below  railroad  track 
west  of  Powelton  (1798'  A.  T.)  34'  below  station  at  1764' 
A.  T.  It  is  one  of  the  earliest  workings  in  this  region. 

The  drift  below  the  track  goes  in  beneath  the  bed  for  some 
distance,  gradually  rising  on  it  N.  E.  until  in  500  or  600 
yards,  with  21'  of  rise  the  following  section  shows  (Fig. 
30,  page  61)  :— 

Slate  roof,  firm, 2' 4- 

Bony  coal,  not  mined, 0'    8" 

Black  slate, 0'    8'r 

Coal,  34' 

Black  slate, 0'  10' 

Coal, 1'    6' 

Slate 0'    8' 

Coal, 0' 

Fire  clay,  blue 6'-f- 

The  coal  of  the  main  bench  is  lustrous,  with  columnar 
structure,  somewhat  sulphurous,  the  sulphur  occurring  in 
bunches  rather  than  seams  through  the  bed. 

At  face  where  the  last  mining  was  being  done,  the  coal 
showed  an  excellent  slate  roof  and  floor,  with  a  bed  44" 
thick,  without  any  parting.  The  gangways  have  been  car- 
ried clear  through  the  hill  If  miles  to  the  south-east  crop  of 
the  coal  north  of  Cold  Stream.  The  coal  is  largely  used  on 
the  engines  of  the  T.  and  C.  R.  R.,  and  a  sample  taken  in 
1874  from  upper  bench  gave  on  analysis  (McCreath) : 

*Can  this  be  the  same  sandstone  rock  found  covering  the  low  hill  between 
Holt's  drift  and  shaft  on  the  McClelland  tract  and  Hoy's  monkey  drift  ?  If 
so,  the  two  beds  are  probably  different,  and  the  large  bed  the  Brookville 
bed  A 


PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA  BASIN.  T4.  107 

Water, .  0.540 

Volatile  matter 22.560 

Fixed  carbon, 71.551 

'Sulphur,     1.079 

Ash, 4.270 

Total,    .  .100.000 


Coke  per  cent,  76.90.     Color  of  ash,  light  gray. 
The  lower  bench  yielded  as  follows  : 

Water, 0.600 

Volatile  matter, 22 .600 

Fixed  carbon, 68.709 

Sulphur,     2.691 

Ash,      5.400 


Total,    .  100.000 


Coke  per  cent,  76.80.  Color  of  ash,  gray,  with  pink 
tinge. 

The  long  haulage  rendered  necessary  here  to  bring  this 
coal  out  to  the  railroad  entailed  considerable  expense,  so 
that  the  cost  for  mining  alone  here  on  Sept.  28,  1883,  was 
44  cents  per  ton. 

No.  2  Black  Diamond  mine  was  just  being  opened  N.  W. 
400  yards  of  No.  1  and  about  80'.  below  it  at  1684'  A.  T. 

The  drift  had  been  carried  in  under  the  track  100  yards 
and  showed  42  inches  of  coal  with  the  same  characteristics 
as  in  No.  1  drift. 

The  following  section,  compiled  from  facts  already  stated 
and  exposures  on  hillside  at  Powelton,  is  taken  from  Report 
H,  p.  41: 

Powelton  section. 

Hill  top. 

Shales,  with  thin  sandstone, 40' 

Coal,  not  seen,  reported,          .           2' 

Shales,  rusty,  with  some  ore  balls, 30' 

Coal  reported, 3'  (block  coal.) 

Shales, 35' 

Coal  B,      5' 

Concealed  measures, 45' 

Coal  A,     4' 

Concealed  measures,     10' 

Iron  ore  balls. 


108  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D' INVILLIERS. 

All  these  measures  crop  out  on  east  side  of  hill  north-west 
of  the  Powelton  clay  bank.  Coal  A  was  drifted  upon  just 
near  the  crossing  of  the  tramway  and  pike  35'  above  its  N. 
W.  crop  on  the  railroad. 

There  is  a  f alien-in  drift  on  this  bed  on  the  hill  just  north 
of  Clover  run,  and  crossing  N.  W.  over  Dale' s  hill  to  the 
north  of  Twigg's  Hollow  the  same  beds  appear,  though 
with  somewhat  greater  intervals,  and  with  probably  the 
Kitranning  upper  C'  bed  crowning  the  crest  and  crossing 
the  lane  about  200  yds.  south-east  of  Dale's  house. 

The  Phcenix  Mine,  Bed  B. 

No.  XII  conglomerate  is  just  under  creek  level  at  Osce- 
ola,  at  or  about  1444'  A.  T.  Down  creek  from  here  the  Kit- 
tanning  lower  bed  B  is  opened  in  the  Phoenix  mine  by  J. 
Burns  under  a  contract  with  Orvis,  Williams  &  Co.,  owners 
of  the  land. 

This  is  an  old  mine.  The  level  of  drift  is  about  the  same 
as  Osceola  junction,  or  I486'  A.  T.  The  normal  dip  of  the 
bed  is  N.  W.  with  a  slight  N.  E.  pitch. 

The  bed  was  seriously  troubled  between  mouth  of  drift 
and  first  gangway,  being  rolled  and  requiring  blasting 
through  roof,  though  no  diminution  of  size  in  the  bed  was 
noticed. 

In  the  first  of  the  bed  chambers  being  re-opened  I  meas- 
ured : 

Slate  roof. 

Coal,  impure  and  bony, 1'  1" 

Slate  parting  with  bone  coal, 0' 7" 

Coal,  columnar  and  clean, 3' 0" 

The  top  bench  is  rather  slaty  and  sulphurous,  the  latter 
occurring  in  bails  and  masses  as  at  Powelton.  With  care 
in  cleaning,  it  will  make  a  good,  strong  steam  coal,  and  is 
at  present  used  to  some  extent  on  tlje  railroad  engines. 

The  headings  were  in  about  £  mile,  (Oct.  16,  1883,)  where 
the  same  thickness  of  bed  is  reported.  The  floor*  has  a 
thickness  of  18"  to  2',  mixed  sand  and  clay  with  coal  re- 
ported under  it.  Production  of  mine  100-120  tons  daily. 

*This  is  doubtless  the  "  fire  clay  slate  "  parting  before  referred  to  as  divid- 
ing the  bed  into  two  main  benches.     Beneath  it  is  the  lower  bench. 


PHILIPSBUKG-OSCEOLA  BASIN.  T.  109 

South  up  hill  there  is  a  small  coal  bench  at  spring-house 
38'  above  the  drift,  the  hill  rising  200'  higher  while  receding 
and  showing  some  coal  thrown  out  120'  above  spring-house.. 

It  is  probable  that  a  small  area  of  the  Freeport  lower  bed 
D  shows  on  this  summit  north  of  Dale's  house.  But  the 
measures  are  rising  rapidly  and  the  area  of  this  bed  cannot 
be  large.  Massive  sandstone  (Freeport?)  shows  on  the 
terrace  at  the  house,  barometrically  240'  above  Osceola 
junction. 

Further  down  creek  there  are  two  more  operations  on  this 
bed,  both  abandoned,  located  in  Spring  Run  Hollow. 

The  JEtna  colliery,  on  west  side,  is  27'  higher  than  the 
Phrenix,  being  located  further  south-east.  The  quality  of 
the  coal  was  poor  and  the  bed  thinned  greatly. 

A  considerable  amount  of  money  was  spent  here  in  out- 
side improvements. 

The  Boynton  Coal  Co.  have  two  drifts  on  the  other  side 
of  the  run  and  nearer  to  the  railroad. 

The  lower  on  B  is  4'  lower  than  the  Phoanix.  The  other 
bed  (C  1)  is  35'  higher  and  the  dump  is  filled  with  sulphur 
balls.  Reported  sections  of  these  two  beds  gave  as  follows  : 

Lower  Bed.  Upper  Bed. 

Slate  roof.  Roof  slate. 

Coal,      .  0'    6"  Coal  with  sulphur  balls,    .    2'  10" 

Bone,  coal  and  slate,      .    .    1-  10"  Fire  clay, 5'    0" 

Coal, 1'     8" 

The  measures  pass  through  this  hill  and  on  to  Cold 
Stream — though  the  hill  is  low  and  probably  only  takes  in 
a  patch  of  the  Kittanning  upper  C'. 

The  thin  Freeport  lower  bed  I)  of  Snow  Shoe  becomes 
through  this  region  the  famous  Moshannon  bed  4' '-&  thick 
and  furnishes  nearly  the  entire  output  of  this  basin. 

Around  PMUpsburg. 

The  country  around  Philipsburg  is  generally  broad  and 
flat  and  as  far  as  the  Freeport  lower  bed  D  is  concerned, 
none  of  the  hills  on  the  Centre  county  side  of  the  Moshan- 
non are  high  enough  to  catch  it,  so  that  between  Cold 
Stream  and  the  Moshannon  creek  only  outcrops  of  the  low- 


110  T4.     EEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

est  beds — probably  as  high  as  the  Kit  tanning  middle  in 
places — are  to  be  found. 

The  basin  rising  from  Philipsburg  to  the  N.  E.  has  like- 
wise contributed  to  the  effects  of  erosion  in  the  higher 
measures. 

Bed  A  has  been  opened  in  various  places  in  this  region 
showing  it  to  exist  as  a  4  to  6  foot  bed  but  of  too  impure  a 
character  to  warrant  its  mining  in  the  face  of  superior  coals 
in  other  parts  of  the  basin,  so  that  all  these  old  drifts  have 
been  abandoned. 

These  old  openings  are  seen  on  the  pike  below  (north  of) 
Cemetery  hill  ;  on  east  side  of  Cold  stream  just  at  head  of 
dam,  where  some  little  coal  is  still  mined  for  country  use, 
and  in  numerous  drifts  on  both  sides  of  Williamson's  run. 

A  New  York  company  opened  this  bed  in  the  latter  place 
on  a  branch  of  the  main  stream,  and  in  report  H  the  bed  is 
described  as  showing 

Sandstone  roof. 

Coal,  4'  4" 

Fire  clay  floor. 

and  very  sulphurous. 

An  upper  bed  (B)  was  opened  by  the  same  company  60 
feet  higher  in  the  hill  which  showed,  (Fig.  31,  page  61 ): — 

Black  slate  roof. 

Coal, 0'  6' 

Small  slate  plating. 

Coal,  2'  9 

Soft  fire  clay, 16" 

Coal,  4'  4"  to  4'  6" 

Fire  clay  floor. 

At  Williamson's  mine,  on  same  creek,  1  mile  east  of 
Philipsburg  the  following  section  is  given  in  report  H  : — 

Slate  roof, 1'  0" 

Bony  coal 02" 

Coal,       1'  1" 

Slate, 0'  2i"— 3^" 

Floor  fire  clay. 

An  average  specimen  in  1874  yielded  on  analysis  (Mc- 
Creath) :— 


PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA  BASIN.  T4.  Ill 

Water,   .   .          0.62 

Volatile  matter, 22.73 

Fixed  carbon, 68.794 

Sulphur, 1.576 

Ash, 6.28 

Total, 100.000 

Coke  per  cent  76.65.     Color  of  ash,  gray. 

'•The  coal  is  shining,  columnar,  contains  veins  of  char- 
coal and  pyrites,  very  heavy." 

Reservoir  Hill  at  Philipsburg  is  high  enough  to  take  in 
bed  C.  Its  crest  is  covered  with  bowlders  of  a  friable 
sandstone  with  a  coal  bench  50  feet  below  top. 

Between  Cold  stream  and  Williamson's  run  two  small 
outcrops  show  in  pike — the  lowest  one  (A)  being  well  seen 
in  cleared  field  to  north-west.  The  hill  rises  high  enough 
east  to  catch  C.  Before  reaching  Williamson's  run  massive 
buff-colored  (Clarion  ?)  sandstone  shows  in  road,  from  under 
which  coal  (A  ?)  has  been  drifted  about  15'  higher  than  the 
opening  in  Cemetery  hill,  marking  the  rise  of  the  coals 
north-east. 

The  lower  coals  crop  out  in  a  low  broad  hill  between  the 
Moshannon  creek  and  Black  Bear  run,  and  west  of  the  hill 
road  to  Munson's  mill.  The  road  everywhere  shows  bowl- 
ders of  XII  all  the  way  to  the  creek  with  bed  A  in  a  marked 
bench  (and  I  believe  opened)  on  Clearfield  side  20'-30'  above 
level  of  water. 

The  country  to  the  south  seems  everywhere  XII  and  so  to 
the  crest  of  the  Alleghany  mountains,  unless  allowance  be 
made  for  the  occurrence  of  the  compressed  trough  far  up 
Six  Mile  run,  which  at  best  can  take  in  only  the  very  lowest 
beds  of  the  coal  measures. 

It  is  just  as  probable  that  the  rise  of  the  measures  through 
here  has  led  to  the  erosion  of  the  entire  coal  series,  ex- 
posing the  underlying  Conglomerate  of  XII  throughout  a 
large  portion  of  Rush  township. 

Around  Osceola 

South-west  of  Osceola  the  basin  is  one  of  much  more  im- 
portance to  Centre  county,  owing  to  the  preservation  of  the 
"  Moshannon  bed  "  over  a  considerable  area. 


112  T*.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

As  yet,  however,  the  region  south  of  the  Moshannon  is 
but  little  developed,  owing  to  its  general  inaccessibility  as 
compared  with  the  Clear-field  coals,  and  its  structure 
through  a  thickly  wooded  district,  but  imperfectly  made 
out. 

Coal  bed  A,  at  creek  level  at  Osceola,  was  opened  many 
years  ago  £  mile  up  Trout  run,  according  to  report. 

Cropping  as  it  does  with  bed  B  on  the  south-east  between 
Sandy  Ridge  and  Powelton,  it  passes  through  all  the  hills 
to  the  north-west,  showing  in  the  different  valleys,  and  ex- 
tending south-west  into  Cambria  county. 

Bed  B  was  formerly  opened  at  the  old  Philadelphia  col- 
liery on  the  south  side  of  the  Moshannon  and  about  20  feet 
above  level  of  water  in  Osceola  dam.  The  old  drift  has  long 
since  fallen  shut.  Going  south-west  up  hill  road  to  point 
of  the  ridge  flanking  the  creek,  well-defined  coal  benches, 
slate  and  smut  were  seen  at  36',  116'  and  170'  (barometric) 
above  Philadelphia  mine,  the  last  bench  being  probably  the 
Freeport  upper  bed  E,  which  is  comparatively  thin  through 
this  region  and  largely  known  as  the  "rider"  to  the  under- 
lying bed  D. 

Buck  ridge. 

The  rise  of  the  basin  south-west  soon  carries  this  little 
patch  of  the  Freeport  beds  into  the  air  ;  but  after  being  cut 
out  to  the  south  by  a  ravine  heading  from  Leskey' s  branch 
they  are  again  caught  in  the  flat  of  Buck  ridge. 

Two  little  patches  of  the  Freeport  upper  bed  caps  this 
ridge  between  its  north-east  extremity  and  the  Leskey 
branch ;  but  the  Freeport  lower  bed  D  extends  solidly 
through  the  hill  to  Bear  run  for  2  miles  N.  E.  and  S.  W., 
and  though  the  hill  is  not  very  broad  a  considerable  amount 
of  coal  can  be  mined  here. 

Three  openings  had  been  made  in  this  hill  in  the  fall  of 
1883.  The  Leskey  branch  of  the  Moshannon  and  Clearfield 
R.  R.  serves  to  carry  their  products  to  market. 

The  Osceola  mine  of  Mears  &  Co.  was  about  ready 
for  shipment  when  last  visited  (Nov.  1,  1883).  The  main 


PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA  BASIN.  T4.   113 

gangway  was  in  400'  and  the  following  section  of  bed  was 
reported  by  superintendent  (Fig.  3:2,  page  60) : — 

Slate  roof. 

Bone  coal, 0'  2" 

Coal,  i'  o" 

Canuel  coal, .  0'  2" 

Coal,      45' 

Fire  clay, 6  -(- 

The  old  Lesley  drift,  now  Stirling  No.  3,  (R.  H.  Powell 
&  Co.,)  is  on  the  west  side  of  railroad,  20'  above  the  track 
and  5'  higher  than  the  4  Osceola  Mine '  drift. 

The  drift  enters  the  hill  S.  23°  E.,  and  at  the  first  or  A 
heading  1  measured  the  following  section  of  bed  (Fig.  33, 
page  60): — 

Sandstone  top. 

Slate,          09" 

Bone  coal, 0' 4" 

Coal,  soft, 1'  0'' 

Cannel  coal,  not  mined,  .   .   .   .  0'  3" 

Coal,  5'  0",  with  a  streak  of  cannel  coal 

Sandstone  floor.  about  2'  6"  from  top. 

About  70  yards  in  this  heading  N.  E.  the  coal  has  the 
same  general  character  and  with  the  cannel  seam,  is  about 
6'  3"  thick.  But  the  slate  roof  has  swelled  to  8'  in  a  great 
measure  replacing  the  sandstone. 

No  tire  clay  occurred  in  this  mine  until  further  south, 
where  the  coal  rises  rapidly.  A  roll  was  met  in  the  main 
drift,  and  the  sandstone  roof  was  driven  through. 

Further  south-west  600  yards  along  north  face  of  the  hill 
the  same  company  has  driven  a  second  drift  in  this  bed. 
with  a  rise  in  that  distance  of  about  32'. 

The  bed  lias  only  about  30'  of  cover  here,  though  a  small 
patch  of  bed  E  occurs  on  top  of  hill  'between  the  two 
openings. 

The  second  heading  was  driven  about  S.  5°  E.,  and  a  sec- 
tion gave  me  (Fig.  34,  page  60) : — 

Slate  roof,  firm. 

Bone  coal,      0'  3' 

Coal,  0'  6" 

Cannel  coal 0'  3' 

Coal,  good, 4'  0" 

Both  these  drifts  show  an  excellent,  bright,  and  clean 
columnar  coal,  with  an  occasional  £  inch  slate  binder  hold- 
8  T4. 


114  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLlERS. 

ing  sulphur,  but  otherwise  very  free  from  impurity,  and 
capable  of  making  a  handsome  steam  coal. 

To  Mr.  Campbell,  the  superintendent,  I  am  indebted  for 
much  information  and  assistance. 

Buck  ridge  continued. 

Keeping  the  same  course  along  hill  south-west,  and  cross- 
ing a  flat  made  by  the  small  Bear  run,  these  coals  are  con- 
tinued in  the  next  knob  of  Buck  ridge,  though  there  are 
evidences  of  a  fault,  running  transverse  to  the  mountain, 
passing  through  here. 

It  may  be  connected  with  some  one  of  the  Clear  field  faults, 
though  in  the  absence  of  any  developments  its  direction  and 
extent  could  not  be  determined. 

A  shaft  was  put  down  at  eastern  extremity  of  this  hill,  48' 
higher  in  elevation  than  No.  2  drift  of  the  Stirling  mine  No. 
3.  It  went  through  5 '-6'  of  loose  sandstone  and  8'  of  slate. 

Slightly  to  the  north-west  on  the  same  hill  another  shaft 
was  put  down  22'  below  the  first,  and  struck  coal  3'  6"  thick 
under  8'  of  cover,  or  as  compared  with  Stirling  drift  only  18" 
higher  than  the  Freeport  lower  bed  D. 

Allowing  for  same  rate  of  rise  south-west  this  bed  should 
correspond  to  that  in  the  Stirling  and  Mears  mine;  but  the 
appearance  of  the  coal  itself,  as  well  as  its  covering  which 
is  everywhere  a  massive  conglomeritic  sandstone  with  ore 
nodules  and  resembling  Mahoning  SS.,  makes  it  probable 
that  this  3^-foot  bed  is  the  Freeport  upper  bed  E  brought 
down  by  a  fault  of  40'-45/,  and  that  the  Freeport  lower  coal 
will  be  found  beneath  it. 

Mountain  branch. 

Another  patch  of  Freeport  lower  bed  D  is  caught  on  the 
hills  between  Mountain  branch  and  Moshannon  creek,  dip- 
ping N.  W.  into  Clearfield  county  where  it  is  mined  above 
and  below  creek  level  on  Whiteside's  run.  The  Brookville 
and  Kittanning  lower  coals  both  probably  go  under  water 
level  before  the  Mountain  branch  is  reached.  The  latter  is 
well  exposed  on  the  Leskey  branch,  with  two  if  not  three 
intermediate  benches  between  it  and  the  Freeport  lower 
bed  at  the  end  of  the  railroad. 


FIRE   CLAYS.  T4.  115 

The  Freeport  sandstone  shows  in  the  railroad  cut  north  of 
Leskey  mine.  A  single  word  of  comparison  is  all  that  is 
necessary  in  reviewing  this  end  of  the  basin  in  relation  to 
Snow  Shoe. 

Here  the  large  bed  so  largely  mined  is  the  Freeport 
lower  T> ;  in  Snow  Shoe  it  is  the  Kittanning  upper  C', 
occurring  41)' -50'  lower  in  the  measures. 

The  Kittanning  lower  bed  B  in  this  basin  is  everywhere 
too  sulphurous  to  work  in  the  presence  of  the  larger  and 
purer  seams  above  it ;  in  the  Snow  Shoe  district  it  is  an  ex- 
cellent merchantable  bed  though  under  water  level  through 
a  great  part  of  the  region. 

The  Kittaniny  middle  bed  C  is  worked  at  neither  place,* 
nor  does  its  character  generally  warrant  any  development 
of  it. 

The  absence  of  limestone  from  this  part  of  the  basin  is 
even  more  marked  than  Jit  Snow  Shoe. 

Fire  clay  beds. 

The  Sandy  Ridge  fire  clay  works  and  mines  are  located 
about  2  miles  If.  W.  of  the  Allegheny  mountain  summit 
and  about  1912  feet  above  tide.  The  clay  is  worked  here 
on  its  south-east  outcrop,  overlying  the  Pottsville  Con- 
glomerate No.  XII,  and  in  addition  to  a  N.  W.  dip  towards 
the  synclinal  of  about  8'  in  100',  shows  a  decided  N.  E. 
pitch  towards  the  centre  of  the  basin  at  Philipsburg  in 
obedience  to  the  general  fall  of  the  measures  in  that  direction. 

Where  measured  at  outcrop  at  face  of  old  stripping  at 
mouth  of  new  drift  (1917'  A.  T.)  it  showed  : 

1.  Sandstone  covering,  opened  into,      4'  O1 

2.  Black  slate,          10'  0" 

3.  Soft  clay  (blue), 2' 0" 

4.  Hard  clay  (French  gray),      26" 

5.  Soft  clay  "  under  strata," 3' 0" 

6.  Sandstone  floor  opened,      4' 0" 

In  the  early  application  of  this  clay  to  making  fire  bricks 
the  soft  blue  clay  No.  3  was  most  sought  after,  until  the 
superiority  of  the  underlying  hard  clay  was  noticed.  In 

*  Unless  in  Sugar  Camp  hill. 


116  T1.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

consequence  of  this  fact,  all  the  old  workings  and  drifts  in 
this  clay  bank  show  a  portion  of  this  hard  clay  No.  4  in  the 
bottom.  A  persistent  coal  seam,  measured  I'  4",  occurs 
about  9'  from  top  of  clay  in  the  overlying  black  slate  roof. 
It  is  bony  and  sulphurous,  though  formerly  mined  here  for 
local  use  at  the  works.  It  is  beneath  the  bottom  or  A  bed 
of  the  Lower  Productive  Coal  Measure  series. 

In  400  yards  in  the  new  drift  the  following  section  showed 
at  face : 

Sandstone  roof,  with  slate. 

Soft  (blue)  clay, 3'  6" 

Hard  clay,         .    .  2'  6" 

Soft  clay  "under-strata"  in  floor, 

In  face  at  most  eastern  workings  (Oct.  16)  the  clay  showed 
as  follows  : 

Sandy  roof. 

Soft  clay, 3'  4" 

Dirt  band, 8'  0" 

Hard  clay,     2'  6" 

The  clay  shows  a  slight  rise  N.  E.  here,  marking  a  local 
roll. 

In  a  cross-cut  south  of  this  the  hard  clay  showed  45  inches 
thick,  and  in  the  old  workings,  where  mostly  soft  clay  has 
been  mined,  I  measured : 

Slate  roof. 

Soft  clay,  blue, 5'  10" 

Hard  clay,          3'    4  ' 

Soft  clay  "under-strata," 18' 

Sandstone  floor,  mixed  with  clay. 

These  sections  will  be  sufficient  to  show  the  varying 
character  of  the  clay  in  different  parts  of  the  mine. 

The  mine  is  drained  under  the  floor  of  the  main  gangway, 
and  does  not  seem  to  be  seriously  troubled  with  water. 

Lagoon-fault  in  fire-clay  bed. — Clay  banks  are  not  more 
free  from  '"troubles,"  "horse-backs"  and  "rolls"  than  the 
overlying  coal  measures,  results  brought  about  by  the  same 
causes,  so  that  a  serious  roll  was  recorded  here  in  about  600 
yards  in  the  old  workings,  which  cutout  both  strata  of  clay 
entirely,  and  brought  the  slate  roof  down  to  the  under  strata.* 

*A  similar  feature  was  recently  noticed  by  Mr.  Frank  Wilcox,  superin- 
tendent at  the  Powell  clay  banks,  though  his  clay  seems  to  be  gradually 
thinning  rather  than  cut  off  by  a  roll. 


FIRE   CLAYS.  T4.  117 

The  line  of  this  squeeze  runs  about  N.  10°  W. 

There  was  no  displacement  or  fault,  the  clay  strata  com- 
ing in  with  regularity  on  the  other  side  of  the  roll. 

The  mines  were  producing  (Oct.  16)  about  60  tons  a  day, 
from  which  about  25,000  bricks  of  different  grades  are 
made. 

The  hard  clay  is  crushed  in  its  natural  state  with  sand 
obtained  from  the  sandstone  floor  ;  molded,  pressed  and 
burned. 

The  top  (blue)  clay  is  well  adapted  for  furnace  bottoms  ; 
the  hard  clay  for  No.  1  fire  brick,  and  the  under  strata  is 
used  for  tiles  and  in-walls  of  furnaces  not  requiring  as  high 
a  grade  of  brick. 

The  essential  difference  between  the  clays  is  in  the  per- 
centage of  iron,*  which  occurs  as  a  protoxide  decompos- 
ing when  exposed  to  air  and  heat,  becoming  fusible  when 
burned,  and  producing  black  specks  in  the  burned  brick. 

The  blue  clay  contains  most  iron  ;  the  under  strata  less, 
though  more  than  the  hard  clay. 

The  alkalies  are  also  detrimental. 

Average  specimens  of  these  four  layers  yielded  on  analy- 
sis (McCreath  H,  p.  119): 

No.  1,  top  layer,  blue  soft  clay  ;  2,  hard  clay ;  3,  under 
strata;  4,  sandy  clay  floor. 

Silica,  . 

Alumina 

Oxide  of 

Lime, 

Magnesia, 

Alkali® 

Water, 

100.057  99.953          100.045  99.943 

A  glance  at  the  above  table  of  analyses  shows  why  the 
bottom  layer  is  not  worked. 

An  analysis  of  Sandy  Ridge  fire  clay  made  in  1870  by 
Mr.  McCreath  for  the  Pennsylvania  Steel  Company,  and 
published  by  permission  of  the  President  of  that  company, 
yielded : 

*  Mr.  A.  S.  McCreath  thinks  that  in  these  clays  most  of  the  iron  occurs  as  a 
silicate  of  the  protoxide. 


1. 

45.650 

2. 
44.950 

3. 

45.820 

4. 

74  950 

......    34.730 

37.750 

35.950 

15,940 

iron,  ....   3.546 
112 

2.700 
302 

3.330 
112 

1.899 
106 

i,  619 
5.750 

.216 
.985 

.573 
4  130 

.407 
1  756 

9.650 

13  050 

10.130 

4.885 

118  T".      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Silica, 45.880 

Alumnia, 33.920 

Oxide  of  iron, , 4.680 

Lime,        160 

Magnesia, 750 

Alkalies,     4.643 

Water,      10.370 

100.403 

The  above  analysis  agrees  very  closely  with  the  average 
of  the  three  analyses  of  the  top,  second  and  third  clay 
layers. 

"Clay  No.  1  (top  layer)  is  massive,  of  pearl  color,  has  a 
soapy  feel,  and  the  outside  of  the  lumps  slightly  fibrous. 

Clay  No.  2  (second  layer)  is  compact,  massive,  has  gray- 
ish color,  with  bluish  tint  on  fresh  surface. 

Clay  No.  3  (third  layer)  is  compact,  of  pearl  gray  color, 
and  breaks  in  plates  and  contains  small  scales  of  mica. 

Clay  No.  4  (bottom  layer)  is  compact,  of  pearl  gray  color, 
uneven  fracture,  and  containing  small  scales  of  mica/' 

No  determination  of  titanic  acid  is  shown  separately  here, 
though  its  presence  in  the  Powelton  clays  renders  it  more 
than  probable  that  it  occurs  in  the  Sandy  Ridge  clay  as 
well.* 

Powelton  fire-clay  bank. 

About  £  mile  north-east  of  Miller' s  *  Sandy  Ridge '  mine, 
the  same  bed  is  worked  on  its  outcrop  72' lower  along  south 
flank  of  hill  and  north  of  the  flat  caused  by  a  branch  to  Cold 
Stream,  on  east  side  of  Philipsburg  and  Tyrone  pike. 
This  is  the  Powelton  clay  bank. 

The  outcrop  crosses  the  pike  in  a  N.  E.  and  S.  W.  direc- 
tion near  the  tram-road  to  the  mines,  and  after  turning 
south,  faces  again  west  to  Miller's.  No  clay  occurs  in  the 
flat  south-east  of  the  Powelton  drift,  and  as  it  has  not  as 
yet  been  sufficiently  shafted  upon  to  allow  of  working 
against  the  dip,  a  drift  has  been  run  in  N.  25°  W.  on  dip 
about  200'  long  (Oct.  16,  1883),  at  bottom  of  which  the 
water  is  allowed  to  collect. 

*A  full  discussion  of  these  clays,  tables  of  comparison,  &c.,  will  be  found  in 
Report  H,  p.  119  et  seq. 


FIRE   CLAYS.  T4.  119 

Chambers  are  run  off  right  and  left  every  10  or  12  feet, 
in  which  the  clay  is  worked  southward  towards  outcrop. 
At  outcrop  face  of  drift,  the  following  section  shows  : 

Soft  and  sandy  cover, 4'  0" 

Broken  black  slate, 6'  0" 

Coal,  bony 0'  4"-6' 

Soft  clay  (blue), 2'  3" 

Hard  clay,          0' 11" 

Sand  rock  floor. 

This  shows  a  slightly  different  roof  than  Sandy  Ridge, and 
the  coal  is  a  mere  string  lying  immediately  on  top  of  the 
soft  clay  without  slate  parting,  and  forming  a  guide  to  the 
workmen.  The  dip  N.  W.  is  about  the  same,  8'  in  100'. 

Up  to  the  time  of  my  visit  the  chambers  had  all  been  run 
off  to  the  right  (east)  from  main  gangway,  the  longest  then 
measuring  56  feet. 

Lagoon-fault. — In  all  of  these,  as  well  as  in  the  main  drift, 
a  squeeze  similar  to  Sandy  Ridge,  but  bearing  about  east 
and  west,  was  noticeable. 

The  squeezes  apparently  have  some  relation  to  the  out- 
crop here,  but  are  liable  to  occur  in  any  part  of  the  mine. 
This  one  was  met  with  about  160'  in  on  main  heading,  and 
its  effect  had  been  to  crush  out  the  upper  (blue)  clay  2'  thick, 
and  replace  it  with  about  one  foot  of  siliceous  sandstone, 
over  which  occurs  the  coal,  here  considerably  split  and 
mixed  with  slate.  The  hard  clay  did  not  seem  to  have 
been  at  all  affected  then,  though  I  have  since  (Feb.,  1884), 
learned  that  in  further  development  it  also  shows  signs  of 
thinning  out.  In  main  heading  near  squeeze  I  measured  : 

Slate  roof  with  2"  coaL 

Sand  rock,  blue, 1'  4" 

Hard  clay, 3'  0" 

And  in  chamber  to  east : 

Slate  roof. 

Coal, 0'4" 

Blue  clay, 2'  0" 

Hard  clay, 3' 4" 

Under  strata, 1'  0" 

Sandstone  floor. 

The  clay  costs  about  15  cents  per  ton  to  mine  and  place  at 
the  mill,  having  to  be  hauled  f  miles  by  tramway  to  works  at 


120  T4.      KEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Powelton.  Messrs.  James  Pierpoint  and  Frank  Wilcox  are 
the  lessees  from  R.  H.  Powell  &  Co.,  owners. 

The  company  had  proposed  sinking  a  shaft  in  the  near 
future  somewhere  near  their  works,  from  which  they  could 
mine  against  dip  and  do  away  with  the  long  haul  and  main- 
tenance of  tramway,  but  I  have  heard  nothing  of  this  plan 
being  carried  into  effect. 

They  were  then  producing  about  1000  tons  of  clay  per 
month,  and  making  12,000  bricks  daily.  A  slightly  differ- 
ent method  in  manufacture  of  brick  is  used  here. 

They  charge  their  pan  with  10  shovels  of  calcined  clay  and 
40  of  hard  fresh  clay.  At  Sandy  Ridge  the  crushed  sandstone 
floor  is  used  instead  of  the  calcined  clay.  The  former  is 
claimed  to  insure  less  shrinkage. 

A  pan  holds  by  weight  about  1000  pounds. 

An  analysis  of  the  clay,  which  has  only  been  worked 
about  2  years,  was  kindly  furnished  by  Mr.  Wilcox. 

No.  1,  Hunt  &  Clapp,  Pittsburgh  Testing  Laboratory  ; 
Nos.  2,  3,  4,  J.  Blodgett  Britton,  Philadelphia. 

(1)  Hard  (2)  Under-  (3)  Soft  „    ^      d 

clay.  strata.  blue  clay.  <•*' 

Silica,     ....       42.32  45.72  48.87  60.80 

Alumina, 37.01  39.14  34.43  28.18 

Lime, 0.47  trace.  trace. 

Magnesia, 0.16  trace. 

Protoxide  of  iron, 0.95  1.34  2.93  1.34 

A.lkaliea,       1.29  2.05  1.96  1.48 

Titannic  acid,      3.83 

Undetermined  matter  and  loss,    0.23  0.36  0.29  0.20 

Water  and  organic  matter,   .   .    13.74  11.39  11.52  8.02 

Total, 100.00  100.00  100.00  100  .<)•» 

TiO2  is  generally  considered  equivalent  to  so  many  per 
cent  of  silica  and  added  to  that  account. 

It  is  not  known  how  much  or  in  what  mariner  the  presence 
of  that  ingredient  would  affect  the  heat  resisting  power  of 
the  brick. 

The  small  percentage  of  iron  in  the  above  analyses  speaks 
well  for  the  character  of  this  clay. 


SECOND  BASIN.  T4.  121 

Coal  Measures  of  the  Second  Basin. 

These  are  all  confined  in  this  county  to  an  area  of  10-15 
square  miles  in  the  N.  W.  corner  of  Burnside  township, 
between  the  West  Branch  Susquehanna  at  Karthaus  on  the 
west  and  Spruce  run  on  the  east. 

To  the  south,  the  coal  measures,  with  the  possible  excep- 
tion of  the  Brookville  bed  A,  are  cut  off  by  the  Pine  Glen 
(first)  anticlinal  axis,  which  divides  the  first  and  second 
basins. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  this  axis  rises  steadily 
from  the  Moshannon  near  its  junction  with  the  river,  N.  E. 
into  Clinton  county,  and  while  the  Conglomerate  Measures 
and  even  formations  No.  XI  and  X  are  exposed  in  the  high 
bluffs  bordering  the  stream  by  reason  of  its  erosion,  the  flat 
arch  itself  does  not  bring  No.  XTI  to  the  surface  for  1£  mile 
east  of  the  Karthaus  pike,  if  I  am  correct  in  judging  the 
buff-colored  friable  sandstone  along  that  road  between  the 
school-house  and  Boak'  s,  to  be  a  higher  coal  measure  rock 
and  not  XII. 

North  of  Cherry  run  however,  the  axis  begins  to  make  a 
distinct  ridge,  and  shows  plainly  the  coarse  conglomeritic 
bowlders  of  XII  on  its  surface  all  the  way  from  Etters 
place  into  Clinton  county  and  consequently  this  entire  hill 
region  is  devoid  of  coal. 

Sub-carboniferous  rocks. 

The  effect  of  this  rise  of  the  measures  north-east  is  shown 
by  a  glance  at  the  colored  map  of  the  county,  where  the 
red  shales  of  XI  carrying  carbonate  ore  oxidized  superficially 
into  hematite,  rise  from  beneath  the  bed  of  the  river  below 
Salt  Lick  and  in  all  the  branch  streams  eastward  appeal- 
higher  and  higher  in  the  hills,  whose  crests  are  capped  with 
bold  terraces  of  XII. 

Of  course  the  outcrop  line  of  this  formation  is  only  ap- 
proximately drawn  on  the  map,  as  its  position  is  almost 
everywhere  concealed  by  drift  and  bowlders  from  the  over- 
lying Conglomerate  rocks.  The  river  deepening  east- 
ward from  Karthaus  assists  in  exposing  greater  thicknesses 


122  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLTERS. 

of  the  next  underl ying  formation,  Pocono  No.  X,  whose 
rocks  are  frequently  exposed  in  the  numerous  ravines 
dipping  to  the  N.  W.  and  pitching  towards  the  centre  of 
the  basin  at  Karthaus. 

This  subsidence  at  Karthaus  is  only  temporary,  however, 
for  just  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Moshannon  creek,  No. 
XI  again  rises  to  the  surface  and  skirts  the  latter  stream  as 
far  up  as  the  new  town  of  Peale. 

In  the  north  corner  of  Burnside  township,  Burns  and 
Jews  run  show  only  XI.  Yost  run,  further  west,  heads  well 
up  on  to  the  plateau  of  XII,  which  is  here  250'±  thick. 

This  ravine  shows  mostly  X,  for  the  most  part  a  fine- 
grained white  and  gray  sandstone,  sometimes  holding  dull, 
rounded  pebbles  and  frequently  showing  bands  of  red  and 
greenish  argillaceous  shales  at  various  horizons  throughout 
the  formation. 

On  the  river  at  the  mouth  of  Yost  run,  these  thin-bedded 
sandstones  and  shales  extend  almost  continuously  to  the 
summit,  meeting  there  beautiful  terraces  of  XII. 

The  north  side  of  the  river,  along  the  cuts  of  the  Susque- 
hanna  and  Clearfield  R.  R.  likewise  shows  excellent  sec- 
tions of  these  sub-carboniferous  rocks. 

Field's  run  shows  a  similar  section,  with  frequent  out- 
crops of  gray,  slaty  sandstone  beds  dipping  about  N.  30° 
W.-3°  to  5°,  over  which  the  stream  falls  in  a  series  of  cas- 
cades. All  these  streams  are  exceedingly  wild  and  rugged, 
and  owing  to  thick  brush,  logs  and  debris  from  old  timber 
operations,  are  nearly  impassable. 

Almost  all  this  land  as  far  west  as  Pine  run,  is  owned  by 
the  city  of  Philadelphia— in  all  about  13,000  acres— con- 
taining little  or  no  coal  except  perhaps  in  the  most  western 
tracts,  and  is  being  fast  stripped  of  its  timber.  The  geology 
south  of  this  anticlinal  ridge  is  quite  similar,  though  the 
greater  width  of  the  Snow  Shoe-Beech  creek  basin,  and 
the  less  erosion  of  Beech  creek  stream,  has  not  allowed  of 
these  sub-carboniferous  measures  being  largely  exposed. 
Burnside  township,  however,  east  of  Germania,  contains 
little  coal— only  the  very  lowest  beds  crossing  the  Snow 


SECOND  BASIN.  T.  123 

Shoe  line  before  the  First  basin  edges  up  quickly  on  to  the 
first  axis. 

Coal  measures  in  the  Second  Basin. 

The  lowest  coals  of  the  second  basin  crop  on  their  south- 
east outcrop  west  of  Spruce  run,  for  east  of  that  point  all 
the  hill  tops  seemed  to  be  capped  with  XII. 

The  hill  between  Spruce  and  Pine  runs  probably  takes  in 
some  area  of  the  Kittanning  lower  bed  B,  and  the  country 
between  Pine  and  Miles  run,  the  Kittanning  middle  C,  with 
possibly  a  small  patch  of  the  Kittanning  upper  C'  close  to 
the  Pine  Glen-Buttermilk  Falls  road. 

Much  of  the  land  is  yet  heavily  timbered,  and  when  vis- 
ited in  the  fall  of  the  year  the  ground  was  so  densely  cov- 
ered with  dead  leaves  and  brush  as  to  greatly  conceal  the 
character  of  its  rocks  and  coal  benches. 

Buttermilk  lands. 

Between  Miles  and  Stirling  runs,  however,  on  lands  of 
Capt.  White,  Brockerhoff  heirs,  J.  H.  Holt,  and  others, 
known  as  the  Buttermilk  property,  some  considerable  test- 
ing has  been  done. 

With  the  reputation  of  Karthaus  coals  2  miles  west  in  the 
same  trough,  and  with  a  well  constructed  railroad  with  low 
grades  along  the  river  at  its  base,  if  its  test  drifts  develop 
anything  like  those  on  the  north  side  of  the  basin  in  Kar- 
thaus, Heckendorn,  and  McGarvey  hills,  the  future  of  this 
territory  is  promising. 

The  center  of  the  basin  or  synclinal  axis  is  practically  the 
Susquehanna  river  at  this  point  from  which  the  coal  beds 
rise  both  ways. 

About  100  yards  west  of  the  old  Buttermilk  hotel  along 
river  bank  the  following  section  shows  at  low  tide : 

Bog  ore,  slimy,  about                             .   .       3' 

Red  and  brown  shale,  with  hematite  nodules, 14 

Clay,  holding  carbonate  ore,  drifted  upon, 11' 

Fire  clay,  good,  bottom  not  seen, 3 

Interval  to  river, 20' 

The  measures  exposed  here  are  evidently  No.  XI,  dipjring 
about  4°  N.  W.  towards  river.  Westward  the  rise  of  the 


124  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

river  covers  up  everything  here  exposed  east  of  Salt  Lick. 
The  top  ore  band — decomposed  at  its  outcrop  into  a  slimy 
red  mass — can  be  well  traced  that  far. 

North  of  Capt.  White's  house,  on  north  flank  of  hill, 
several  of  these  coal  beds  have  been  opened,  and  a  baro- 
metrical section,  partly  compiled,  shows  somewhat  as  fol- 
lows (Fig  35,  page  58) : 

Buttermilk  hill  section. 

Hilltop,  (Mahoning  sandstone?). 

Sandstone  and  shale,  40'  0" 

Hard  gray  slate,          10'  0" 

1.  Coal,  (E)  drifted  upon,       3'  6"-f 

Concealecl  measures,  SS.  and  shales,       50' 

2.  Coal  bench,  (D)  not  opened,          

Concealed  measures,  mostly  slates,      42'  0" 

3.  Coal,  (C')  opened  on  crop,  2'  8"-f- 

Interval,  slates  and  shales  with  a  little  SS.,       ....  34' 0" 

4.  Coal,  (C) 3'  0"  ? 

Concealed  measures, 45'  0" 

5.  Coal,  (B)  opened,         2'  6" 

Interval,  mostly  slates, 32'  0" 

6.  Coal,  (A')  good,  hard  slate  roof,     1' 6" 

Sandstone  and  shale, 22'  0" 

7.  Coal,  (A)  opened, 2'  6" 

Fire  clay,  4'  0"  ? 

Sandstone,  blue,     40'  0" 

8.  Slate  and  coal  smut, 1'  0" 

Conglomerate,         225'  0" 

Shales,  etc.,  to  river, 65' 

This  gives  the  bottom  coal  A  (No.  7)  about  340'  above 
river,  and  top  coal  E  (No.  1)  about  234'  higher,  or  575'  above 
river. 

The  openings  on  these  various  beds  in  detail  show : 

No.  1,  Freeport  upper  E  drifted  upon  25  feet  from  out- 
crop, where  it  showed  1'  of  smut  under  5'  of  broken  shale. 

The  bed  gradually  increased  with  development  until  at 
«nd  of  drift  8  yards  in  from  crop  I  measured  3'  6"  of  coal 
with  4  inches  slate  at  bottom  and  10  inches  hard  slate  roof. 

This  same  bed  has  been  struck  in  a  shaft  about  f  miles 
N.  E.  towards  east  end  of  hill  at  a  somewhat  higher  eleva- 
tion. This  is  just  north-west  of  the  old  Dixon  house. 

The  shaft  passed  through  10'  of  broken  sandstone,  red 
and  gray  ;  2'  of  shaly  rock  and  16'  4"  of  hard  black  and 
gray  slate  to  coal  reported  4'  thick. 


SECOND  BASIN.  T4.   125 

A  small  shaft  20'  below  the  crop  of  this  bed  here  shows 
4'  of  carbonate  ore,  marking  the  horizon  of  the  Freeport 
upper  limestone.  Thirty  feet  below  this  there  is  a  marked 
bench,  which  would  correspond  to  the  position  of  the  Free- 
port  lower  bed  D  of  Karthaus  and  Moshannon  region.  This 
bench  has  strangely  enough  never  been  opened  owing  no 
doubt  to  the  prejudice  against  it  in  the  Snow  Shoe  region, 
where  its  attenuated  condition  always  led  to  developing  the 
next  bed  below  it,  Kittanning  upper  C'  40^50'  lower. 

Mr.  J.  H   Holt  however  states  that  he  opened  the  inter- 
mediate bed  further  west  toward  Stirling  run  and  found  it 
3'-3£'  thick.     This  is  about  its  thickness  where  opened  by 
the  old  Karthaus  company  on  Boak's  (Walker)  property, 
.to  be  mentioned  afterwards. 

Kittanning  upper  C'  No.  3  bed  of  section,  92'  below  E, 
has  been  drifted  upon  22'  and  showed  a  face  of  clean  coal 
2'  8"  thick  with  2'  of  firm  slate  cover. 

There  is  no  parting  in  this  bed,  and  a  considerable  amount 
of  clean  bright  lump  coal  has  been  removed  in  drifting 
which  shows  no  sulphur  and  no  slaty  impurities. 

The  Kittanning  middle  bed  C,  No  4,  is  not  opened,  but 
the  next  lower  bed  85'  under  No.  3  is  shafted  upon  and  cor- 
responds in  position  to  bed  B,  Kittanning  lower.  The 
shaft  was  partially  filled  with  water  so  that  no  measure- 
ments could  be  made,  but  the  bed  shows  2'  6"  of  soft  outcrop 
coal  and  will  no  doubt  show  better  under  more  cover. 

The  Clarion  bed  A',  No.  6  of  the  section,  is  here  as  else- 
where worthless  as  a  mining  bed,  being  only  V  6"  thick  and 
separated  from  the  Kittanning  lower  bed  B  by  slate. 

The  Brookville  Coal  A  No.  7  shows  2£  feet  of  good  coal, 
slightly  sulphurous,  but  not  nearly  so  much  so  as  in  the 
first  basin. 

The  two  upper  beds  are  confined  to  the  area  between  the 
public  roads  down  Sterling  and  Miles  run,  but  the  under- 
lying seams  crop  out  in  hills  to  south-east  and  are  present 
over  a  considerable  territory. 

It  will  be  urged  against  these  Centre  county  coals  that 
they  are  too  high  above  the  river ;  but  this  same  fact  pre- 
sents all  the  beds  here  above  water  level,  whereas  at  Snow 


126  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIEBS. 

Shoe  but  a  limited  amount  of  the  lower  beds  are  thus  ex- 
posed. An  inclined  plane  here,  similar  to  that  recently  put 
up  at  Karthaus  landing  to  mine  the  Preeport  lower  bed 
could  be  advantageously  located.  The  measures  are  pitch- 
ing slightly  towards  Karthaus  as  already  stated,  and  thus 
the  Freeport  lower  D  bench  here  525'  above  the  river  is  about 
479'  at  Karthaus.  The  fall  of  the  river  in  the  same  distance 
is  probably  20'  but  the  Karthaus  bed  occurson  the  north 
side  of  the  synclinal,  so  that  a  comparison  can  hardly  be 
made. 

These  same  coals  show  in  public  road  up  from  Stirling 
landing,  the  lowest  coal  A  being  opened  on  west  side  of 
road  in  a  monkey  drift  320'  (barometer)  above  the  river,  un- 
derlaid with  40'  of  shale  and  fine-grained  blue  (Homewood) 
sandstone,  20'  of  shaley  sandstone  and  then  conglomerate  to 
river. 

The  dip  to  N.  W.  is  quite  severe  and  the  total  thickness 
of  XII  will  be  probably  about  250'-280'. 

Coal  A  here  shows  2'+  in  a  drift  15'  long,  very  good  lus- 
trous coal,  free  from  impurity,  overlaid  with  2'  of  shales 
carrying  ore  balls. 

A  section  up  side  hill  here  across  the  edge  of  the  meas- 
ures shows  somewhat  differently  from  the  Buttermilk  sec- 
tion, (Fig.  36,  page  58) : 

Stirling  section. 

Hill  top  558'  above  river. 

Sandstone  and  shales, 22'      0" 

Coal  smut,       . 3  to  4 

Concealed  measures,  white  SS.  and  shales, 58'      0" 

Coal,  drifted  upon— good  columnar, 3'      6" 

Fireclay,  .   .  1'+ 

Shales  and  concealed  measures,  68 

Coal,  opened  back  of  Walker ,-  in  creak,     2'-f- 

Interval  mostly  black  slate,         32' 

Coal,  not  opened ,  large  bench, - 

Buff  sandstone  and  shale,      37' 

Red  and  gray  shales, 6' 

Shales  with  ore  balls,  2' 

Coal,  drifted  on  Stirling  road 2' 

Fire  clay  and  shale,  < 12' 

Bluish  gray  sandstone  with  mica  scale*-1          28' 

Shaly  sandstone, 20' 

Conglomerate. 


SECOND  BASIN.  T4.  127 

The  bottom  coal  A  has  already  been  spoken  of. 

The  next  coal  is  not  opened,  and  while  probably  B,  its 
interval  (45  feet)  is  rather  short.  It  shows  a  marked  bench 
west  of  the  Stirling  road  in  field  to  ward's  Walkers  house, 
where  an  uprooted  tree  had  torn  up  some  black  (roof)  slate. 

The  small  coal  bed  32'  feet  higher  in  the  section  may  be 
the  Kittanning  middle  bed  C.  It  has  been  opened  at  head 
of  little  stream — a  branch  of  Stirling  run,  and  I  believe  has 
been  struck  also  on  north  face  of  hill. 

Where  scratched  south  of  Walker's  house  it  showed  : 

Soft  clay  roof, 6'  0" 

Coal,  0'  2" 

Clay  slate, 0'  6" 

Coal,         2'  0" 

Clay, ?- 

Much  of  this  clay  in  section  of  bed  may  be  only  the  de- 
composed portion  of  outcropping  slate  which  is  here  contin- 
ually exposed  to  disintegration  by  drainage. 

From  here  to  Walker's  cellar  is  about  68' — where  coal 
smut  shows  at  about  the  same  elevation  as  the  old  Karthaus 
company's  drift. 

This  bed  has  been  opened  in  several  drifts  by  the  old 
Karthaus  company,  who  took  a  considerable  amount  of 
coal  from  here.  These  drifts  have  been  partially  cleaned 
out  by  the  Messrs.  Boak,  and  in  the  most  westerly  one,  first 
opened,  I  measured  : 

Roof  black  slate  firm, 6'+ 

Coal,  free,  columnar  and  lustrous, 3'  to  3'  6" 

Fire  clay, 0'  6"-f 

The  second  opening,  further  N.  E.  gave,  (Fig.  37,  page  60) : 

Slate  roof. 

Coal  good,      0'     6" 

Bone, 0'    3" 

Coal,         3'    6" 

Clay  slate  '*  horse  "  local,       0'    8" 

Coal,  bottom  not  seen,      0'  10' 

This  is  probably  the  Freeport  lower  D,  and  the  equiva- 
lent of  the  large  "6"  foot  bed  at  Karthaus,  and  if  correctly 
identified  here,  its  presence  as  a  good  bed  of  workable 
thickness  on  east  side  of  Stirling  run  in  White's  hill  is 
more  than  probable. 


128  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

A  sample  of  coal  scraped  from  both  benches,  and  sent 
Mr.  McCreath,  analysed  as  follows  : 

Water, 1.994 

Volatile  matter, 23.921 

Fixed  carbon,        67.059 

Sulphur,      806 

Ash,          6.220 

Total, 100000 


Coke  per  cent,  74.085.     Color  of  ash,  cream. 
As  compared  with  the  Karthaus  bed,  as  analyzed  in  1874 
for  F.  Platt's  report  H,  p.  81,  as  follows  : 

Water,         630 

Volatile  matter, 24.630 

Fixed  carbon, 70.396 

Sulphur,      654 

Ash, ,' 3.690 


Total, 


Coke  per  cent,  74.74.     Color  of  ash,  red. 

The  two  compare  favorably  except  in  point  of  ash,  and 
the  larger  percentage  of  that  ingredient  in  the  former  was, 
no  doubt,  in  part  due  to  the  great  weathering  and  breaking- 
down  of  the  bed  and  haste  in  sampling. 

With  care,  this  coal  will  make  an  excellent  coke. 

The  coal  bed  above  this  60',  Freeport  upper,  shows  quite 
a  heavy  smut  outcrop,  but  is  confined  to  a  very  small  area 
on  top  of  hill,  and  commercially  is  but  of  little  value  to  this 
property. 

The  Freeport  lower  D  is  possibly  caught  on  hill  between 
the  two  branches  of  Stirling  run,  and,  though  time  did  not 
permit  an  examination  here,  it  has  been  so  colored  on  map. 

Along  the  KartJiaus  pike 

The  Karthaus  pike  shows  most  of  these  beds  between  the 
river  and  Pine  Glen  P.  O. 

White  sandstone  crops  on  road  for  a  couple  of  hundred 
yards,  dipping  along  river  front  N.  20°  W.  2°-3°.  Just 
north  of  second  bend  of  road  to  Pine  Glen,  a  reddish,  fine- 
grained sandstone  outcrops  with  the  same  dip,  coloring  the 


SECOND  BASIN.  T4.   129 

soil  red,  and  succeeded  in  the  next  100'  along  road  by  gray, 
marly  shales,  blending  in  with  conglomeritic  sandstone. 

Black  slates  and  coal  smut  show  at  barn,  340'  by  barom- 
eter above  the  river,  and  if  this  be  coal  bed  A,  and  the  in- 
terval correct,  it  marks  the  cessation  of  pitch  towards  Kar- 
thaus,  for  it  is  20'  higher  than  the  same  bed  on  the  Stirling 
road. 

Another  weak  coal  smut  shows  20'  higher,  with  an  inter- 
val of  shale  and  sandstone,  with  black  slate  74'  (without 
allowance  for  dip)  above  the  latter,  possibly  representing 
the  horizon  of  bed  B. 

Above  this,  with  an  interval  of  120',  there  is  a  strong  coal 
smut  on  roadside  north  of  Laurel  Run  House. 

This  same  bed  benches  strongly  on  road  to  White's  from 
Pine  Glen,  beyond  Advent  church. 

Sandstone  crops  on  pike  south  of  Laurel  Run  House, 
showing  a  very  pretty  roll  with  dip  to  N.  W.  and  S.  E. 

West  of  Karthaus  piJce  from  school-house  there  is  a 
pretty  broad  hill  showing  four  benches. 

South  of  this  hill  is  a  cove  leading  up  to  Boaks'  farm 
buildings,  where  some  recent  tests  have  proved  the  pres- 
ence of  the  lowest  coal  beds. 

Smut  was  found  6  inches  thick  at  a  spring  in  his  meadow, 
the  outcropping  of  a  good  bench  south-east  on  the  Stewart 
tract. 

Where  shafted  10  yards  to  S.  E.  26  inches  of  fine  coal  was 
passed  through,  probably  the  same  bed  as  struck  in  the 
well  at  Ms  farm. 

The  farm  lane  to  the  pike  passes  over  a  hill  of  shales,  100' 
higher  than  smut  in  spring,  and  which  contains  a  small  area 
of  a  higher  coal  bed, — probably  Kittanning  middle  C.  No 
higher  coals  occur  in  this  hill. 

South-west  from  the  spring  the  ground  rises  over  a  sum- 
mit 60'  higher,  and  from  there  down  to  the  river  two  benches 
were  passed  before  conglomerate  was  met, — the  upper  of 
which  corresponds  probably  to  the  bed  tested.  The  con- 
glomerate XII  dips  about  N.  20°  W.  3°. 

Ore  of  XI. — The  "red  ore''  bed,  which  everywhere  in 
previous  sections  occurred  at  the  bottom  of  XII,  if  not  in 
9  T4. 


130  T*.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  u'lNVILLIERS. 

the  shales  of  XI,  is  seen  here  also,  as  well  as  on  Red  Lick 
run  and  Seven  Mile  run,  in  this  township. 

The  river  is  575'  below  summit  south-west  of  the  spring, 
and  shows  a  fall  from  here  to  Karthaus  (barometer)  of  20' 
in  1£  miles.  There  is  evidently  a  considerable  thickness 
of  X  along  here. 

On  Red  Lick  run  the  top  of  XII  is  met  with  about  545 
feet  (barometer)  above  its  intersection  with  the  river,  and  at 
about  300'  below  this  the  "red  ore  band"  shows  in  the  run. 
From  here  to  river  is  fully  200' — most  of  which  must  be  Po- 
cono  sandstone  No.  X. 

The  exposures  on  Red  Lick  all  dip  to  the  north-west. 

The  mouth  of  Moshannon  creek  is  850'  A.  T.  and  the  flow 
of  the  river  is  considerably  enhanced  by  that  stream,  show- 
ing a  fall  in  £  mile  to  Red  Lick  run  of  about  25'. 

Along  township  road  from  mouth  of  Moshannon  creek 
several  exposures  of  gray  and  reddish  sandstone  are  seen, 
made  up  of  shaly  and  sandstone  strata  30'  thick,  before  dis- 
tinctly conglomerate  rock  is  met  with. 

South  of  Books'  lane,  a  narrow  hill  on  land  of  J.  H. 
Beates  catches  on  its  summit  a  patch  of  same  bed  mentioned 
on  that  lane  (C  ?).  Mr.  Beates  reports  2'  of  fine  coal  with  3r 
slate  cover  in  one  trial  shaft  sunk  on  this  bed,  and  4'  of  coal 
and  slate  with  10'  slate  cover  in  another. 

There  is  only  about  12'  of  cover  altogether  here,  though 
the  point  is  topographically  high,  and  commands  a  fine 
view  of  the  surrounding  country. 

Mr.  Beates  reports  having  passed  through  7  feet  (2)  of 
limestone  rock  without  coal  in  sinking  on  a  bench  41'  below 
hill  top  in  his  meadow.  If  so,  this  must  be  the/err iferous 
limestone  below  the  Kir  tanning  lower  bed  B. 

The  two  upper  coal  beds  pass  out  into  the  air  south-east 
before  reaching  the  anticlinal,  which  passes  somewhere  near 
the  old  Bower  house  now  occupied  by  J.  B.  Newcomer  and 
just  south  of  the  old  Pine  Glen  tavern,  carrying  on  its  arch 
here  the  lowest  coal  bed  of  the  series. 

The  topography  of  the  country  is  very  flat  and  the  soil  is 
made  up  mostly  of  buff-colored  (Clarion  ? )  sandstone. 


SECOND  BASIN.  T4.   131 

The  country  immediately  west  of  Hippie's,  in  the  New- 
comer and  Zimmerman  farms,  is  very  flat,  though  elevated, 
and  carries  only  the  lowest  coal  measure  rocks. 


The  features  of  this  basin,  then,  in  Centre  county  show 
the  same  absence  of  limestone  as  already  remarked  in  the 
first  basin,  though  at  Karthaus,  in  Clearfield  county,  several 
horizons  can  be  identified. 

The  coal  beds  as  far  as  opened  show  no  very  great  thick- 
ness, but  are  very  regular,  and,  as  a  whole,  show  very  little 
impurity  and  good  coal. 

In  the  face  of  the  limited  development  (the  longest  drift 
being  only  25  feet  in  from  crop)  it  is  too  early  to  speculate 
on  the  future  of  this  field. 

The  limited  amount  of  the  Freeport  group  still  left  here 
and  opposite  in  Clearfield  county  will  be  remarked  by  re- 
ferring to  the  colored  maps;  but  its  proximity  to  a  ready 
market  should  lead  to  some  thorough  testing. 

Some  steps  have  been  taken  towards  developing  the  Centre 
county  side  by  means  of  a  railroad  from  Sugar  Camp  by  way 
of  Little  Sandy  or  Cherry  run  and  Miles  or  Pine  run  to  con- 
nect with  the  S.  &  C.  R.  "R. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Brown  Hematite  Ores  of  No.  II  (Siluro-Cambrian  Lime- 
stone) in  Nittany  Valley  and  Penn '  s  Valley. 

The  iron  ores  of  formation  No.  II  are  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance in  this  county. 

The  various  mines  and  outcrops  will  be  described  in  the 
following  chapter  with  analyses  and  characteristics. 

There  are  in  many  places  very  flattering  showings  of  loose 
ore,  tested  by  trial  pits  to  some  extent,  which  call  for  no 
special  mention  here.  But  wherever  possible,  the  numerous 
outcrops  have  been  traced  and  openings  on  them  located  on 
the  colored  geological  map,  so  that  descriptions  here  given 
all  refer  to  that  map. 

Though  some  of  the  mines  in  the  county  have  been  worked 
for  many  years,  the  industry  of  iron  ore  mining  may  be 
said  to  be  still  in  its  childhood. 

With  but  few  exceptions,  the  mines  of  the  county  are 
operated  by  very  primitive  methods. 

No  great  reason  for  a  large  output,  requiring  more  modern 
machinery,  as  yet  exists.  There  is  not  a  single  coke  or  an- 
thracite furnace  within  the  county  limits  at  present  writing  ; 
nor  are  there  sufficient  railroad  facilities  as  yet  to  meet  any 
outside  demand,  and  but  four  small  charcoal  furnaces,  all 
in  practically  the  same  portion  of  the  field,  in  active  blast. 

Even  the  little  charcoal  furnaces  whose  romantic  ruins 
dot  the  Bald  Eagle  and  other  valleys  have  long  since  passed 
into  history,  and  their  demand,  feeble  as  it  was,  has  ceased 
altogether.  On  Jan.  18,  1884,  only  three  of  the  charcoal 
furnaces  were  in  blast,  whose  combined  necessities  could  be 
satisfied  by  one  good  mine. 

(133  TM 


134  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       K.  V.  D*INYILLIXK8. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  a  means  of  supplying  copious 
wash  water  to  many  of  these  ore  banks  was  only  discovered 
about  15  years  ago  by  the  sinking  of  artesian  wells  in  these 
dry  valleys,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  county  does  not 
occupy  the  position  as  an  ore  producer  that  both  the  char- 
acter and  quantity  of  its  raw  material  justifies. 

Varieties  of  ore. 

The  two  chief  varieties  of  ore  occurring  in  the  county  are : 

1st.  The  wash  and  lump  hematite  ore  of  the  "barrens." 

2d.  The  pipe  ores. 

Of  the  first  class  it  may  be  stated  that  the  appearance 
and  character  of  the  ore  in  all  the  banks  as  well  as  the  ac- 
companying waste  material  showed  evidence  of  their  being 
wash  deposits,  caught  in  vast  caverns,  of  irregular  shape, 
showing  mixed  sand,  tough  clay,  and  rolled  ore,  and  though 
intimately  associated  with  sandy  measures  in  the  limestone 
measures  of  II  have  really  a  still  lower  limestone  bottom. 

In  the  chief  mines  of  the  district — notably  at  Scotia  and 
Tow  hill — after  a  superficial  covering  of  15  to  30  feet  of 
mixed  clay,  sand,  and  fine  ore  has  been  removed,  the  under 
surface  reveals  solid  rock  ore  in  large  lumps  mixed  with 
clay  in  a  confused  arrangement,  of  great  richness  and 
variety. 

An  integral  difference  in  the  clays  of  these  ores  and  the 
limestone  pipe  ores  (one  to  be  expected  probably  from  their 
different  horizons)  is  the  much  greater  stiffness  and  tough- 
ness of  the  former. 

The  clay  of  these  lower  ores  frequently  occurs  in  non- 
ferruginous  bands  or  dykes,  running  through  the  length  of 
the  banks,  barren  and  hard  to  pass  through  the  washers, 
but  by  no  means  cutting  off  the  ore. 

This  non-ferruginous  clay  has  usually  a  white  to  pink 
color,  while  the  yellow  clay  of  the  pipe  ore  deposits  is  inti- 
mately mixed  with  the  ores  and  offers  no  material  resistence 
to  their  thorough  cleansing  in  the  washing-machines. 

Moreover,  it  may  be  noted  that  in  every  case  the  ore  of 
the  barrens  needs  jigging  in  addition  to  washing  to  free  it 
from  the  mixed  sand  and  flint  that  accompany  it. 


BROWX   HEMATITE  ORES  OF  NO.    II.  T*.   135 

All  the  analyses  of  these  ores  show  an  absence  of  bisul 
phide  of  iron  and  the  occurrence  of  all  the  iron  as  sesqui- 
oxide,  at  once  suggesting  a  different  chain  of  effects  in  the 
production  of  these  as  compared  with  the  pipe  ores  to  be 
immediately  described  where  this  salt  of  iron  is  frequently 
present. 

The  sand  rocks  which  originally  held  these  ores  occupy 
a  position  low  down  in  the  limestone  series  of  II.  By 
having  their  lime  leached  out,  these  loosely  aggregated 
sandstones  have  fallen  into  sand,  and  it  is  probable  that 
this  same  leaching  action  has  cencentrated  their  iron  salts, 
which  would  be  deposited  as  insoluble  peroxide.  What 
changes  may  have  followed  this  process  of  deposition  to 
bring  about  the  irregular  and  confused  appearance  of  the 
banks  to-day  and  the  grading  of  the  ore  body  from  fine  to 
coarse  lumps  is  a  matter  of  speculation  still. 

The  deposits  do  not  look  like  formations  in  sitti,  nor 
would  such  a  theory  explain  the  rounded  character  of  ore 
and  flint  balls  and  the  occurrence  of  barren  spots  beside 
nests  of  great  richness. 

While  no  distinctively  pipe  ores  have  been  reported  from 
the  ore  banks  in  the  "  barrens,"  some  persons  detect  in  the 
compact  needle  ore  occasionally  met  with  a  form  of  pipe, 
and  illustrate  their  opinions  of  the  common  origin  of  pipe 
and  hematite  ores  by  this  fact.  Physically  and  chemically 
they  appear  to  be  quite  different ;  but  the  general  resem- 
blance of  all  ores  from  different  banks,  divided  only  as  to 
two  classes,  is  not  as  remarkable  as  the  local  variations 
which  give  rise  to  the  occurrence  of  bessemer,  neutral  and 
cold  short  ores  lying  quite  close  to  each  other,  and  appar- 
ently along  the  same  range. 

More  detailed  information  as  to  the  characteristics  of 
these  ores  in  special  deposits  will  be  found  in  the  descrip- 
tions of  the  individual  mines. 

2.  The  pipe  ores  have  varying  horizons  in  the  limestone, 
and  though  generally  above  the  essentially  "barrens"  hem- 
atites, it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  some  of  them  do  not 
occur  also  in  the  1000±  feet  of-  limestone  beneath  them 
down  to  the  top  of  Potsdam  sandstone  No.  I. 


136  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

In  comparison  with  the  ores  of  the  Lehigh  region  and 
those  of  the  Great  valley,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  note  the 
fact  that  neither  of  the  two  principal  horizons  which  have 
furnished  the  bulk  of  material  to  the  Lehigh  and  Schuyl- 
kill  furnaces  are  represented  in  Centre  county. 

In  that  region  the  contact  lines,  or,  more  properly,  the 
transition  layers  between  No.  I  (Potsdam  SS.)  and  No.  II 
(Siluro-Cambrian)  limestone  and  between  Nos.  II  arid  III 
(Hudson  river  slates)  are  the  chief  ore  ranges.  Of  these,  the 
first  or  lower  horizon  is  nowhere  brought  to  daylight  in 
Centre  county,  being  buried  beneath  1000'±  of  rock  along 
the  floor  of  Nittany  and  Penn's  valleys. 

The  second  or  upper  horizon  has  not  been  found  to  be 
ore-bearing  as  yet,  a  fact  which  may  be  explained  by  reason 
of  the  presence  of  400'±  Trenton  fossiliferous  limestone  in 
Centre  county,  whereas,  its  almost  total  absence  in  the 
Great  valley  allows  of  the  contact  of  the  slates  of  III  with 
the  ferriferous  magnesian  limestone.* 

Again  :  The  frequent  connection  of  damourite  slate  beds 
with  the  chief  ore  bodies  in  the  south-eastern  district  of  the 
State  is  not  observed  in  Centre  county. 

It  is  true  that  most  of  the  pipe  ores  are  accompanied  with 
a  white  and  buff-colored  clay,  which  may  be  the  result  of 
the  decomposition  of  such  slate  bands  ;  but  it  may  also  rep- 
resent the  disintegration  of  the  magnesian  limestones  them- 
selves. 

While  the  chemical  explanation  of  these  facts  is  still  a 
matter  of  speculation,  repeated  examinations  of  the  ore 
banks  in  various  parts  of  Nittany  and  Penn's  valleys  leads 
me  to  believe  that  the  pipe  ores  are  deposits  probably  due 
either,  first :  To  the  decomposition  of  iron  pyrites,  origi- 
nally contained  in  the  limestone  or  slate  bands,  and  after 
oxidation  as  sulphate,  filled  into  interstices  in  the  limestone 
and  changed  into  peroxide  by  contact  with  vegetable  mat- 
ter or  other  organic  substances;  or,  second :  To  the  prior  pro- 
duction of  ferrous  carbonate,  by  reaction  between  the  fer- 
rous sulphate  and  the  calcium  carbonate  of  the  limestone, 

*But  in  Blair  county  the  Leather-cracker  ore  occupies  the  position  between 
the  top  of  the  Trenton  and  the  slates  of  No.  III. 


BROWN  HEMATITE  ORES  OF  NO.   II.  T4.  137 

afterwards  converted  into  limonite  by  oxidation  and  hydra- 
tion. 

The  manner  of  occurrence  between  walls  of  regularly- 
bedded  limestone,  sometimes  as  thin  shells  of  ore  and  again 
as  large  pipes  in  masses  8  to  10  feet  thick,  would  confirm 
one  or  the  other  of  these  views,  while  the  presence  of  iron 
pyrites  in  perfectly  undecomposed  pipes,  surrounded  with 
thoroughly  oxidized  ore  in  the  Sinking  Creek  mine  in 
Penn's  valley,  lends  probability  to  the  theory. 

The  presence  of  pyrite  in  hematite  is  not  new,  and  the 
many  analyses  showing  bi-sulphide  of  iron  in  the  succeed- 
ing pages  will  illustrate  its  frequency  in  this  district. 

Crystalized  brown  hematite,  a  pseudomorph  after  pyrite, 
has  been  gathered  in  the  Cumberland  valley,  as  well  as  speci- 
mens of  bomb-shell  ore,  holding  a  clay  inside  filled  with, 
loose  crystals  of  pyrites. 

In  other  banks  showing  a  low  percentage  of  sulphur  many 
of  these  ores  may  have  occurred  as  carbonates  in  the  slates, 
which  upon  the  dissolution  of  their  lime  matter  have  de- 
posited these  iron  salts  as  now  found. 

In  those  banks  where  a  considerable  surface  deposit  has 
escaped  from  the  general  erosion,  this  oxidation  has  been  so 
complete  as  to  show  but  a  low  percentage  of  sulphur  ; 
whereas,  in  the  case  of  the  Sinking  Creek  mine  before  men- 
tioned, the  ore  occurs  in  place  between  limestone  beds, 
and  has  not  yet  had  a  chance  to  become  thoroughly 
changed. 

The  outcropping  of  these  pipe  ores  is  spread  out  to  a 
much  greater  extent  than  they  occupy  lower  down  between 
limestone  layers.  The  width  of  these  outcrops  is  affected 
by  the  topography  of  the  country.  This  surface  ore  is 
greatly  disintegrated,  and  occasionally  is  indeed  so  fine  as 
to  be  hardly  distinguished  from  so  much  reddish  brown 
loam  or  earth ;  but  a  close  inspection  of  it  will  reveal  the 
presence  of  small  stems  or  pipes,  making  usually  a  cubic 
yard  of  ore  for  each  4  or  5  cubic  yards  of  material,  and 
often  better. 

The  work  of  the  season  did  not  confirm  the  popular  be- 
lief in  continuous  belts  of  ore-producing  territory  along 


138  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

miles  of  surface  outcrop.  At  best,  while  assigning  approx- 
imate horizons  to  these  pipe  ore  deposits,  they  have  their 
rich  and  poor  places — feather  out  entirely  in  the  line  of 
strike  and  widen  again  into  masses  several  yards  thick, 
while  keeping  a  general  parallelism  of  bedding  with  the 
parent  rock  and  liable  to  show  its  change  of  dip.  It  is  use- 
less to  speculate  on  the  possibilities  of  these  deposits,  but 
the  ore  has  been  found  at  great  depths,  and  much  original 
outcrop  soil  is  as  yet  untouched. 

Many  individual  characteristic  features  of  the  ore  de- 
posits will  be  noted  in  describing  the  separate  mines.  For 
convenience  sake  it  has  been  thought  best  to  describe  them 
in  groups,  geographical  rather  than  geological,  with  such 
accompanying  notes  as  will  serve  to  connect  the  different 
ore  banks  in  ranges  according  to  their  different  horizons. 
The  outcrops  and  mines  will  be  described  as  follows : — 

Ore  mine  groups. 

A.  Belief onte-Nittany  Valley  Group,  embracing  the  fol- 
lowing banks :   Curtin  Bros.,  Fishing  Creek  bank,  Jackson 
mine,  Red  bank,  Hoy  bank,  etc.,  Gatesburg,  Taylor,  Nigh, 
and  Logan  banks. 

B.  Jacksonville   Valley  Group,  containing  Zimmerman, 
Darrah,  McCalmont,  Butler,  Beck  and   Washington  Fur- 
nace bank,  etc. 

C.  Hublersburg  Valley  Group,  with  the  Field,  McKin- 
ney,Quinn,  Hecla,  Howard,Voneda,  Schwartz,  Huston  land 
2,  Snavely  and  Barlow  &  Day  mines. 

D.  Buffalo  Run  Group ;  Hunter,   Crust,  Markle,  Lam- 
bourn,  Pond,  Newell,  Desert  and  Celtic  banks. 

E.  Barrens  Group,  Lovetown,  Tow  Hill,  Scotia,  Ackley, 
Lytle,  Red  bank.  Bull  bank,  etc. 

F.  Pennsylvania  Furnace  and  College  Group,  holding 
Bryson    bank,    Johnson,     Streuble,    Stover,    Puddington, 
and  Big  Hollow  banks. 

G.  PemCs  Valley  Group,  Watson,  Ross,  Sinking  Creek, 
J.  P.  Runkle,  Emerick,  etc. 


BELL  EFONTE-NITT  ANY  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.   139 

A.  Belief onte- Nittany  Valley  group. 

1.  Curtin  Bros.  Fishing  Creek  Bank.  This  mine  is  about 
1£  miles  east  of  Bellefonte  on  road  to  Zion.  Its  name  is  one 
applied  to  at  least  half  a  dozen  openings  in  this  region  and 
retained  for  each  new  mine  in  this  line  of  deposit.  It  is 
however,  practically  one  long  narrow  trench  of  ore  extend- 
ing east  into  Valentine's  property  and  lying  close  to  and 
parellel  with  the  public  road. 

The  position  of  the  various  openings  will  be  noted  on  the 
county  map  in  Spring  township. 

Beginning  at  Valentine's  line,  a  short  distance  west  of  the 
school-house  cross  roads,  the  line  of  this  deposit  may  be 
traced  north-westward  for  400  rods,  swinging  down  draft  as 
a  wash  deposit  towards  Jacksonville  valley  road.  The 
original  work  by  Messrs.  Curtin  and  Trczuylny  (from  whom 
a  large  tract  of  Curtin' s  land  is  named),  was  done  in  a 
rat  her  narrow  pit  just  south  of  the  lime  kiln  where  No.  II  is 
exposed  in  the  side  hill  (probably  marking  the  anticlinal 
axis)  dipping  to  S.  E.  30°  and  quarried  for  lime. 

The  township  road  runs  just  south  of  the  pit  which  is 
roughly  100'  x  60'  x  40'  or  about  9000  cubic  yards  of  excava- 
tion, though  now  filled  up  with  water  and  mud  to  within 
15  feet  of  the  top. 

Not  having  been  worked  for  years,  the  sides  are  greatly 
washed  down  and  show  only  a  little  fine  and  rolled  ore. 

As  was  the  custom  in  those  days  only  the  lump  ore  was 
used,  owing  to  scarcity  of  washing  water,  and  the  product 
of  this  mine  is  described  as  having  been  so  clean  and  free 
from  clay  as  to  be  almost  entirely  removed. 

Considering  its  position  in  a  narrow  trench  exposed  to  all 
the  drainage  of  higher  country  to  the  east,  which  found  its 
way  to  Spring  creek  through  this  ravine,  the  absence  of 
clay  and  the  presence  of  a  large  quantity  of  flint  and  rock 
bowlders  will  be  readily  explained.  Pipe  ore  was  reported 
in  bottom  6  to  8  feet  thick,  before  operations  were  stopped 
by  water. 

It  is  not  improbable  if  this  be  the  case,  that  the  bulk  of 
the  material  now  being  stripped  further  west  along  trench, 
was  derived  from  here,  for  it  bears  all  the  characteristics  of 


140  T.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

a  wash  deposit,  occurring  as  layers  of  ore  between  rounded 
sandstone  and  limestone  bowlders.  In  some  places  now 
being  stripped  (Oct..  1883),  the  ore  is  barely  18  inches  thick, 
while  increasing  to  5  and  6  feet.  Some  excellent  material 
was  taken  from  an  old  screening  floor  here  (where  the 
coarser  lumps  were  divided  from  the  tine  and  rejected  par- 
ticles,) which  washed  about  1  to  3. 

All  the  ore  mined  or  scrubbed  here  is  passed  through  a 
jig  after  washing,  erected  at  the  western  brow  of  the  ridge, 
where  also  the  ore  from  several  neighboring  pits  is  pre- 
pared. 

East,  towards  Valentine's  line,  the  surface  show  contin- 
ues in  excellent  shape,  sometimes  with  4  to  6  feet  of  dirt 
cover  and  again  coming  up  to  the  surface. 

The  old  work  leads  directly  N.  W.  into  a  long  trench 
800'  x  40'  x  9'  filled  with  mud  and  water. 

A  considerable  amount  of  surface  ore  of  the  same  general 
character  was  taken  out  of  here  about  5  years  ago. 

At  the  west  end  of  this  and  on  the  north  flank  of  the 
small  hill  dividing  the  old  workings  just  described  and  the 
present  surface  excavations,  is  the  washer. 

It  is  claimed  that  this  trench  washed  1 : 5,  which  would 
furnish  about  4,000  tons  of  ore,  allowing  2£  tons  weight  to 
the  cubic  yard.  It  still  shows  fair  wash  ore  in  the  sides 
and  it  is  proposed  in  the  near  future  to  excavate  it  further 
and  transport  material  by  a  tram-road  to  the  washer. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  small  hill  just  mentioned  arid 
close  to  the  Fishing  creek  road,  the  present  workings  are 
located.  On  July  31st,  when  visited,  it  showed  surface 
scratching  over  an  area  of  100'  x  50'  x  60'  or  about  1000  cubic 
yards. 

It  has  every  indication  of  being  a  derived  deposit. 

The  best  show  is  in  the  south  face,  where  there  is  only 
about  6  inches  of  top  dirt  and  about  6  feet  of  ore,  mixed  with 
rounded  pieces  of  limestone  and  flint.  The  north  face  is 
cut  down  about  10  feet,  but  is  mostly  flint  and  sand  rock 
bowlders.  The  west  side  shows  4  feet  of  ore  under  3  feet 
of  surface  drift. 

The  ore  is  mostly  a  hard  dark  hematite  with  some  light 


BELLEFONTE-NITTANY  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.  141 

ore  in  yellow  clay.  The  present  wash  record  of  this  mate- 
rial shows  about  1 :  8  or  9  and  could  not  be  worked  at  all 
without  jigging.  To  the  north  the  ore  is  pretty  well  cut  off. 
Further  east  towards  the  long  trench  on  the  north  side  of 
the  hill  some  additional  old  workings  are  exposed.  But 
the  wash  must  have  been  light,  as  the  limestone  shows  in 
the  bottom  at  some  places  at  a  depth  of  only  8  feet. 

South  of  the  road,  a  draft  was  followed  S.  E.  through 
the  Harris  tract  to  Milliken's  house  on  the  Nigh  bank  road. 

The  ravine  and  neighboring  slopes  showed  a  good  deal  of 
wash  ore — thick  in  spots  but  almost  entirely  absent  else- 
where. 

It  is  possible  that  this  whole  hill,  confined  within  the 
triangular  tract  bounded  by  the  three  roads,  will  show  a 
greater  or  less  body  of  ore,  as  it  is  directly  in  the  range  of 
the  Taylor-Gatesburg-Fishing  Creek  horizon. 

Taking  into  account  the  great  erosion  which  this  region 
has  been  exposed  to,  and 'in  the  absence  of  a  single  pit  to 
prove  its  depth  or  persistency,  it  would  be  folly  to  specu- 
late on  its  future  ;  but  the  company  should  feel  justified 
from  surface  indications  to  sink  shafts  in  parallel  lines  N. 
W.  and  S.  E.  across  the  tract,  though  this  should  be  done 
well  up  from  the  hollow  where  the  washed  ore  and  sand 
occur  which  shows  less  appearance  of  a  continuous  surface 
outcrop. 

Plant.  The  washer  is  run  entirely  on  surface  ore,  whose 
rocky  character  prevents  a  very  large  daily  output,  making 
(July  31,  1883,)  only  about  10  tons  with  a  double  25'  shaft, 
Its  full  capacity  with  this  ore  is  about  15  tons. 

The  wash  well  is  157'  deep,  filled  up  to  85  feet  and  with  a 
10  foot  column  of  water. 

The  pump  is  of  the  regular  oil-well  walking  beam  pattern 
with  3'  stroke,  and  making  34  strokes  per  minute.  A  35  h. 
p.  engine  runs  both  washer  and  pumps. 

The  washed  ore,  after  being  picked  of  its  large  flint 
masses,  is  divided  into  two  sizes,  lump  and  fine  ore. 

It  is  then  passed  through  a  rotatory  sieve  and  falls  on  to 
a  Bradford  jig,  where  the  ore,  flint  and  slate  are  separated 


142  T.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D* INVILLIKBS. 

according  to  their  various  specific  gravities,  the  ore  falling 
to  the  bottom. 

In  order  to  make  the  jig  continuous  in  its  action,  self- 
acting  rakes  are  arranged  by  which  the  flint  and  stone  are 
raked  off  the  surface. 

As  there  is  very  little  slate  in  this  ore,  the  flint  and  ore 
are  readily  separated  by  differences  of  specific  gravity,  so 
that  the  machine  here  gives  entire  satisfaction.  The  jig 
screen  has  %"  mesh  and  separates  into  two  sizes,  each  size 
having  a  flint  and  an  ore  bin. 

Mr.  A.  S.  McCreath,  chemist  of  the  Survey,  at  Harrisburg, 
made  the  following  analyses  of  ore  sampled  in  1881  from 
the  old  workings : 

Sample  10  ft>s.     Dried  at  212°  F. 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,  (Fe2O3), 59.642 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese,  (Mn2O3), .288 

Alumina,  (A12O3), 1.470 

Lime,  (CaO),        2.520 

Magnesia,  (MgO), 1.181 

Sulphuric  acid,  (SO3),         052 

Phosphoric  acid,  (P,O8),        236 

Water,  (H2O),      10.932 

Insoluble  residue, 24.020 

Total, 100.291 

Iron,         41.750 

Manganese, .201 

Sulphur, .021 

Phosphorous, .103 

Phos.  in  100  parts  of  iron, 246 

The  hill  crest  to  the  east  of  the  washer,  extending  to  the 
north  of  the  Gatesburg  and  Taylor  banks,  shows  some  old 
workings.  Barometric  elevation  927'  A.  T.  The  ore  is  more 
or  less  continuous  to  Valentine's  line  on  the  east,  though 
greatly  mixed  with  flint. 

North  from  the  washer,  on  hill  summit,  a  shaft  was  put 
down  10  feet  and  drifted  N.  E.  in  yellow  ochreous  ore.  It  is 
abandoned  now,  though  some  good  stuff  still  shows  in  drift. 
The  clay  is  very  heavy  here,  and  with  present  facilities  could 
not  be  very  advantageously  worked  in  washer. 

West  from  here  along  the  crest,  which  dies  towards  the 
Jacksonville  road,  there  are  several  shafts  15'  to  20'  deep, 


BELLEFONTE-NITTANY  VALLEY  GKOUP.  T4.   143 

showing  but  little  flint  but  a  good  deal  of  tough  yellow  clay 
mixed  with  fine  ore. 

This  clay  becomes  very  thick  50'  further  west,  cutting  out 
the  ore  entirely  and  confining  it  to  the  N.  and  S.  sides  of  the 
ridge. 

Limestone  crops  here,  dipping  S.  E.  15°,  under  which  in 
some  old  drifts  some  fair  results  have  been  obtained. 

Much  of  this  ore  went  to  the  old  Eagle  furnace  built  in 
1817,  and  some  to  the  new  Pleasant  furnace  at  Curtin,  built 
in  1847. 

The  ore  is  not  as  good  as  that  in  the  hollows  below. 

I  regard  the  whole  of  this  knoll  as  precarious  ground,  from 
the  fact  that  limestone  rock  is  found  everywhere  at  short 
distances  below  the  surface,and  the  material — ore  and  clay- 
found  here  is  derived  from  a  source  further  east. 

This  theory  would  explain  the  occurrence  of  good  heavy 
wash  ore  and  large  flint  masses  in  the  hollows,  where  they 
have  remained  by  reason  of  their  greater  weight,  while  the 
light  earth  clay  and  fine  ore  has  been  carried  to  the  flanks 
of  the  small  ridge. 


2.  Jackson  bank,  (Belief onte  Ore  Company.)  This  mine  is 
situated  about  2  miles  east  of  Bellefonte,  on  the  north  side 
of  the  limestone  ridge  and  anticlinal  axis  just  referred  to, 
and  not  far  south  of  the  Jacksonville  valley  road. 

The  property  under  lease  contains  about  70  acres,  part  of 
the  Barhart  farm  of  400  acres. 

It  has  been  operated  about  two  years,  (Aug.  4,  1883,)  and 
was  first  worked  by  carts,  skinned  to  a  depth  of  about  10' 
over  a  surface  300'  N.  E.  and  S.  W.  and  200'  N.  W.  and  S. 
E..  or  about  21,000  cu.  yds.  of  excavation. 

An  incline  plane  was  afterwards  put  down  and  mining  is 
now  being  pursued  to  a  depth  of  15  or  20  feet  below  original 
surface,  though  but  comparatively  little  ground  has  been 
worked  to  that  depth. 

Some  few  exposures  of  decomposed  non-ferriferous  sandy 
limestone  occur  in  the  bank  especially  in  the  north  face, 
where  pipe  ore  has  been  found  occurring  along  a  narrow 
ledge  of  limestone  apparently  dipping  80°  to  the  N.  W. 


144  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

South.  50'  in  the  centre  of  the  excavation,  the  dip  is  only 
20°-30°  S.  E.  in  a  limestone  knoll,  around  which  ore  has 
been  removed. 

A  good  many  shafts  have  been  sunk  from  the  bottom  of  the 
mine  to  a  depth  of  from  10-25  feet.  Most  of  them  showed 
excellent  prospects.  Much  of  the  ore  along  the  south  part  of 
the  mine  is  a  heavy  black  needle  ore,  frequently  found  in 
]arge  lumps,  lying  in  a  trench  between  two  limestone  hills. 

The  show  is  best  in  the  south  and  west  faces,  and  the 
mud  dam  at  the  latter  side  of  the  draft,  obviously  conceals 
some  of  the  best  ore-ground. 

The  top  covering  of  sand  and  flint  varies  from  2'  to  5'  being- 
thickest  in  the  north  face,  where  the  ore  is  lightest  and  less 
abundant. 

The  ore  probably  runs  through  the  draft,  increasing  in 
bulk  west  towards  Curtin's  line  and  has  been  tested  east 
towards  the  Hoy  and  Red  banks  for  300  yards  beyond  en- 
gine-house, though  the  outcrop  is  narrow. 

The  original  royalty  here  was  $1.00  per  ton,  but  with  a 
reduction  of  50  per  cent  at  present  writing,  the  company 
claim  to  be  able  to  mine  and  deliver  ore  in  wagons  at  Belle- 
fonte  for  $2.10  a  ton. 

The  general  ore  body  is  flinty  and  must  be  jigged.  There 
has  been  15,000  to  18,000  tons  of  ore  already  mined  (Aug. 
4,  1883).  The  mine  has  a  good  future. 

I  present  two  analyses  of  this  ore  by  A.  S.  McCreath. 

No.  1,  May  12,  1880  from  samples  taken  from  14  trial 
pits. 

No.  2.  Sept.  1881,  from  20  fcs.  of  washed  ore  of  which  Mc- 
Creath writes  :  "  As  shipped  this  ore  may  run  richer  in  iron, 
for  it  is  carefully  hand  picked  after  being  washed."  In 
addition  to  this  hand  picking,  all  the  ore  is  jigged  now, 
which  will  considerably  increase  the  iron  percentage. 

(i)  (2) 

Sesquioxide  of  iron, 78.678  66.000 

"            '•  manganese, 517  .744 

"  "  cobalt, trace. 

Alumina, 864  1.245 

Lime,          490  .410 

Magnesia,             .266  .472 

Sulphuric  acid, 032  .030 


BELLEFONTE-NITTANY  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.  145 

Phosphoric  acid, 600  .490 

Water,        .  13.240  10.216 

Insoluble  residue,     5.290  20.590 

Total, 99.977  100.197 


Metallic  iron, 55.075  46.200 

"       manganese,, 360  .518 

Sulphur,            013  .012 

Phosphorous,       262  .103 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron, .246 

Plant.  One  unusually  good  well  197'  deep,  cribbed  to  a 
depth  of  100'  and  bored  by  a  diamond  drill  97'  more. 
Water  column  100'.  Pump  has  38  revolutions  per  minute 
and  is  run  usually  on  a  4'  stroke  though  geared  for  4£'. 
Usual  flow  of  water  180  gallons  per  minute. 

36  h.  p.  engine  for  inclined  plane,  pump  and  washers. 
One  pair  40  h.  p.  flue  boilers.  One  pair  double  washers  25' 
long  ;  capacity  60  tons.  The  delivery  shaft  is  raised  6  inches 
above  the  receiver  so  as  to  retard  the  ore  flow  for  thorough 
cleansing.  The  washers  are  ocragonal  wooden  shafts. 

Mine  cars  dump  the  ore  directly  into  the  washer  from  a 
platform  above,  opening  at  the  end  and  dumping  at  an 
angle  of  45°.  The  cars  are  weighted  so  as  to  be  readily 
adjusted  after  discharging.  The  washers  show  good  work 
here,  very  little  clay  passing  into  delivery  shaft,  which  re- 
ceives wash  water  from  a  sluice  box  alongside. 

The  ore  is  picked  of  large  flint  masses  at  the  mouth  of  the 
shaft  before  passing  into  the  screen.  The  latter  is  divided 
into  three  sets  of  meshes  for  water,  sand  and  ore  under  £ 
inch.  All  that  passes  out  of  the  screen  is  hand-picked  on 
a  platform  and  transferred  to  wheelbarrows  and  thence  to 
the  ore  dump. 

The  fine  ore  and  flint  is  carried  up  to  the  jig  pans  by  a 
Pater  Noster  chain  and  jigged  into  two  sizes.  A  Bradford 
separator  is  used  here,  whose  operations  have  already 
been  described. 


3.  Red  Bank  (Curtin  Bros).     This  mine  was  visited  July 
31,  1883.     It  is  about  \  mile  N.   E.   of  the  Bellefonte  Ore 
Company's  mine  and  close  to  the  north  base  of  the  Lime- 
10  T1. 


146  T.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

stone  ridge.  It  apparently  lies  a  little  to  the  north  of  the 
Jackson  mine  horizon.  The  mine  derived  its  name  from 
the  blood  red  color  of  a  great  deal  of  its  clay. 

The  mine  is  an  irregular-shaped  hole,  probably  averaging 
30'  deep  over  a  rectangular  surface  500'  E.  and  W.  and  450' 
N.  and  S.  The  best  show  lies  in  the  south  and  west  sides 
of  the  pit,  often  separated  by  bunches  of  red  clay  and  again 
rising  to  the  surface  with  little  or  no  stripping. 

Thus  the  top  covering  of  clay  and  sand  will  often  amount 
to  12  or  15  feet  and  again  only  to  2  or  3  feet. 

The  west  face  shows  a  mass  of  blood-red  ore  and  clay, 
the  latter  very  rich,  and  comparatively  free  from  silicious 
matter. 

A  sparry  bed  of  material  with  ore  runs  N.  W.  and  S.  E. 
through  the  mine,  but  the  rest  of  the  waste  is  very  loamy. 

The  ore  is  raised  directly  to  the  washer  on  an  inclined 
plane. 

The  show  around  the  plane — located  on  the  north  side — is 
lean,  and  shows  the  same  general  character  as  that  of  Jack- 
son's mine.  Limestone  comes  in  here,  and  from  it  some 
excellent  large  pipes  were  extracted  about  October  18,  very 
different  from. the  lump  hematite  found  to  the  south  against 
the  hill.  The  property  has  been  tested  200'  further  N.  W. 
with  encouraging  results,  and  to  a  depth  of  50'-60'  in  the 
mine.  The  ore  is  of  excellent  quality,  and  washes  readily. 
The  deposit,  however,  seems  to  be  very  irregular,  and  cheap 
ore  can  only  be  won  by  careful  mining. 

The  washed  ore  is  claimed  to  run  55  per  cent  in  iron,  and 
is  highly  spoken  of  in  the  furnace  workings  of  Messrs.  Cur- 
tin.  The  following  is  McCreatlrs  analysis  of  a  sample  of 
215  pieces  dried  at  212°  F.  He  writes  that  the  "sand" 
from  this  bank  (which  is  seen  lying  around  the  engine-house 
and  is  not  used  in  furnace)  yields  34.80  per  cent  of  iron  : 

Protoxide  of  iron,  (FeO), 289 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,              75.301 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese,        .278 

Oxide  of  cobalt,        .           .060 

Oxide  of  zinc,        .030 

Alumina,        1.163 

Lime, 1.600 


BELLEFONTE-NITTANY  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.  147 

Magnesia, 401 

Sulphuric  acid,        112 

Phosphoric  acid, 293 

Water,      11.322 

Insoluble  residue, 9.570 

Total, 100.419 

Metallic  iron, 53.000 

Metallic  manganese, 194 

Sulphur, .045 

Phosphorous,  .128 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron,         241 

Plant.  The  plant  here  is  well  arranged.  Consists  of  a 
single  28'  washer,  capacity  of  40  tons  a  day.  The  engine  is 
the  poorest  feature,  being  very  old  and  of  only  35  h.  p.  to 
do  hoisting,  washing  and  pumping. 

There  are  two  wells  224'  deep,  with  standing  column  of 
40'  of  water.  Two  Hue  boilers  25'  long,  with  a  large  heating 
surface.  The  ore  being  very  low  in  silica  is  quickly 
washed,  and  is  hauled  through  the  gap  in  Bald  Eagle  mount- 
tain  2£  miles  to  the  Pleasant  furnace  at  Curtin  on  B.  E.  V. 
R.  R. 


4.  Hoy  Bank.  This  bank  located  about  100  yards  N. 
W.  of  Red  bank,  and  probably  on  the  same  range,  was  idle 
when  visited,  and  greatly  filled  up  with  mud  and  water, 
concealing  all  appearance  of  ore. 


5.  Kaufman  or  Dysart  Bank,  on  east  side  of  public  road 
from  Red  bank  was  also  abandoned,  and  nothing  could  be 
seen  or  learned  about  its  ore  prospects.  It,  however,  serves 
to  mark  the  eastern  limit  of  this  ore  horizon  as  the  Jackson- 
ville valley  ores,  while  apparently  geographically  coexten- 
sive with  those  already  described,  occur  in  rocks  at  a  lower 
geological  horizon,  brought  up  by  the  rise  of  the  Dittany 
valley  axis  in  the  Sand  ridge  "  barrens/' 


6.  Hamilton  Bauk. — Passing  to  the  south  side  of  the 
limestone  ridire  the  next  mine  in  this  Bellefonte  group  of 
ore  banks  is  the  Hamilton  bank,  located  at  the  junction  of 
the  Fishing  creek  road  and  the  road  over  the  hill  through 
Curtin's  gap. 


148  T.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Between  this  bank  and  Curtin's  line  on  the  west  the 
Messrs.  Valentine  have  worked  the  same  outcrop  and  de- 
posit, and  under  the  same  name  as  the  Curtin  Fishing 
Creek  bank.  It  shows  on  this  property  a  shallow  pit  of 
pipe  ore,  cut  off  on  the  north  by  a  limestone  ridge,  but  oc- 
cupying a  considerable  acreage  along  the  low  ground 
through  Avhich  the  road  passes.  The  place  was  formerly 
worked  for  the  old  charcoal  furnaces,  and  after  being  robbed 
of  its  lump  surface  ore,  was  abandoned,  according  to  the 
then  prevailing  custom,  for  cheaper  localities.  The  exist- 
ence of  ore  here  has  been  proved  to  a  great  depth,  and 
much  favorably  located  territory  is  now  being  used  as  a 
mud  dam  for  the  waste  from  the  Gatesburg  bank,  higher  up 
the  cove. 

Much  of  the  ore  occurring  in  the  ravine  to  the  N.  W.  was 
no  doubt  derived  from  here,  from  whence  the  ore  outcrop 
extends  almost  uninterruptedly  for  a  mile  E.  N".  E.  through 
the  Hamilton,  Gatesburg  and  Taylor  banks,  marking  one 
of  the  most  persistent  horizons  in  this  district. 

These  ores  all  occur  in  limestone,  and  are  situated  close 
to  but  on  the  south  side  of  the  anticlinal. 

They  are  2£  miles  from  the  edge  of  the  slate  of  III,  along 
the  base  of  Nlttany  mountain,  and  the  intervening  lime- 
stone rocks  show  dips  of  15°-20°. 

Allowing  an  averaging  dip  of  15°  between  them  and  the 
mountain,  for  2%  miles  we  get  a  thickness  of  3,200  feet  of 
No.  II  here — or  in  other  words  the  ores  of  this  Hamilton- 
Galesburg-Taylor  range  are  about  3,000'  below  the  top  of 
II. 

The  mines  already  described  are  probably  near  or  in  the 
same  horizon,  occurring  on  the  north  side  of  the  axis  and 
with  apparently  less  vertical  distance  from  the  slates  on 
account  of  the  steep  and  overturned  dips  of  the  limes  rone. 

No  work  has  been  carried  on  at  the  Hamilton  bank  for 
years,  though  it  is  claimed  that  a  shaft  175'  deep  still  showed 
a  good  quality  of  pipe  ore  when  abandoned  on  account  of 
water.  The  sides  of  the  surface  pits  on  each  side  of  road 
show  good  ore  indications. 


BELLEFONTE-NITTANY  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.  149 

7.  Oatesburg  'bank. — This  mine  is  located  about  3  miles 
east  of  Belief onte  and  1050'  A.  T.,  or  at  an  elevation  of 
about  300  feet  above  the  town.  It  lies  midway  between  the 
Hamilton  and  Taylor  banks,  of  which  it  really  forms  an  in- 
tegral part. 

This  tract  contains  about 5  acres  of  land,  and  though  the 
present  bank  has  been  worked  for  over  50  years,  only  about 
£  an  acre  of  ground  seems  to  have  been  disturbed. 

The  excavation  consists  of  a  roughly  oval  pit  300  feet 
each  way,  averaging  30'  deep  or  say  100  x  100  x  10=100,000 
cubic  yards  of  excavated  material. 

The  washers  show  a  general  average  of  1 :  5,  which  would 
give,  after  due  allowances,  25, 000  cubic  yards  of  ore,  or  50,- 
000  tons,  allowing  two  tons  of  ore  to  the  cubic  yard. 

The  surface  crop  is  excellent,  extending  IS".  E.  to  the  Tay- 
lor bankvfrom  which  it  is  separated  by  one  800-foot  field  in 
which  the  indications  are  very  favorable. 

Northward  the  ore  extends  to  the  crest  of  the  limestone 
ridge,  which  probably  marks  the  Nittany  Valley  axis,  and 
which  cuts  off  the  best  part  of  the  ore. 

Both  here,  however,  and  further  west  on  Curtin's  prop- 
erty, as  already  stated,  the  ridge  has  been  successfully 
tested,  though  it  everywhere  shows  more  sand  and  flint 
covering  than  the  hollows  nortli  and  south  of  it. 

The  dip  of  the  limestone  on  the  crest  is  to  the  south-east. 

South  of  the  bank  wash-ore  shows  well  up  on  the  hill  on 
south  side  of  road,  200  yards  distant. 

West  the  deposit  joins  the  Hamilton  bank. 

I  well  know  that  it  is  a  most  hazardous  undertaking  to 
calculate  the  future  output  of  a  hematite  bank,  for  the 
almost  endless  occurrence  of  clay  banks,  "horses"  of  rock, 
and  mixed  flint  and  sand  render  the  result,  to  a  great  de- 
gree, problematical. 

But,  judging  both  from  the  average  experience  else- 
where, and  from  the  appearance  of  this  individual  property, 
which  has  been  worked  in  some  portions  to  a  depth  of  50'- 
60',  and  tested  to  a  depth  of  80',  in  addition  to  the  various 
trial  shafts  10'-30'  deep,  sunk  outside  the  mine  proper,  I 
am  led  to  the  conclusion  that  a  large  quantity  of  ore  is  yet 
to  be  raised  here. 


150  T4.   REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.   E.  V.  D' INVILLIER8. 

The  ore  is  taken  out  by  an  incline  plane  descending  from 
the  washer  to  the  bottom  of  the  bank. 

Clay  banks  and  broken  ledges  of  limestone  are  to  be  seen 
in  the  faces,  but  are  not  a  prominent  feature. 

A  20'  shaft  in  bottom  of  pit  catches  all  the  surface  drain- 
age, which  is  pumped  to  the  surface  by  a  small  injector. 
The  shaft  is  all  in  ore. 

The  best  show  when  visited  (July  16,  1883,)  was  in  the 
north  face,  where  ore  washing  fully  1:4  by  test  was  ex- 
posed. 

The  east  face  shows  some  rotten  limestone  intercalated 
with  an  argillaceous  slate,  all  of  which  readily  decomposes 
to  a  soft  clay  in  the  pit,  passes  through  the  washer  easily, 
and  offers  no  obstruction  to  mining. 

In  the  west  face  a  drift  has  been  driven  30'  into  red  clay 
holding  good  wash-ore,  the  idea  being  to  extend  .the  drift 
under  the  road  to  the  Hamilton  works. 

The  ore  is  a  broken,  fine-grained  pipe,  occasionally  oc- 
curring in  large  lumps,  but  usually  so  far  disintegrated  as 
to  look  like  so  much  fine  red  earth  when  freshly  mined. 
The  ore  is  mined  for  about  90  cents  per  ton,  the  property 
being  held  in  fee  simple  by  the  Valentine  estate.  The 
Elmira  Iron  Company,  of  New  York,  are  large  consumers 
of  this  ore,  sometimes  taking  from  1000  to  1500  tons  per 
month  over  and  above  what  is  reserved  by  the  Messrs.  Val- 
entine for  their  own  furnace  use. 

Though  I.  have  seen  still  more  nattering  analyses  of  this 
ore  by  reputable  chemists,  I  present,  without  comment,  three 
analyses  by  McCreath,  which  sufficiently  well  show  the  ex- 
cellent character  of  this  ore : 

No.  1,  sample  223  pieces  washed  ore,  Sept.,  1881. 

No.  2,  sample  of  the  "sand"  or  fine  ore,  Sept.  1881. 

Sampled  by  McCreath.     Dried  at  212°  F. 

No.  3,  sample  wash  ore  from  furnace  pile,  Sept.  1883. 

Sampled  by  Messrs.  Valentine. 

1.  2.  3. 

Ferrous  oxide,  .   .   .          .160  .160 

Ferric  oxide,         .    .      71.485  63.321  71.540 

Manganic  oxide,  .    .          .143  .185  .133 

Cobaltic  oxide,     .   .          .170  .010  — 


BELLEFONTE-NITTANY  VALLEY  GROUP.  T*.  151 


Lime,    

1.340 

.780 

.340 

Magnesia,    

.464 

.414 

.421 

Sulphuric  acid,    .   . 
Phosphoric  acid,  .   . 

Water, 

.070 
.320 

11.314 

.135 
.341 

10.512 

.065 
.329 
i    10.903,  combined. 

Insoluble  residue,  . 

13.670 

23.000 

i      3.511,  hygroscopic. 
11.772 

Total 100.441 


Metaliciron,     .   .   .      50.200  44.450  50.078 

Metalic  manganese,          .100  .129  .093 

Sulphur, 054  .028  .026 

Phosphorous,    .   .    .          .140  .149  .144 
Phosphorous  in  100 

parts  iron,      .   .   .          .278  .335  .287 

While  the  analyses  prove  this  ore  to  be  too  ''  cold-short" 
for  Bessemer  iron,  yet  in  charcoal  cold-blast  furnaces  it 
makes  a  very  superior  neutral  product. 

A  comparison  of  the  two  analyses,  Nos.  1  and  3,  speaks 
well  for  the  persistent  character  of  this  ore,  for  the  samples 
were  taken  two  years  apart,  and  both  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances. This  ore  can  be  placed  in  Bellefonte  at  $1  25 
per  ton. 

Plant  consists  of  a  double  washer,  each  shaft  being  20' 
long,  thus  giving  40'  of  traveling  surface. 

The  shafts  are  octagonal  wooden  beams,  armed  with  iron 
teeth,  and  turn  out  an  average  of  35  to  40  tons  of  clean  ore 
daily.  Water  for  washing  is  obtained  from  two  wells  235' 
deep  and  5'  apart,  with  a  standing  column  of  38'.  They 
have  a  regular  capacity  of  about  2000  barrels  daily.  A  35 
horse-power  engine  furnishes  power  for  both  washing  and 
pump.  No  jig  is  used  here. 


8.  The  Taylor  bank,  located  N.  E.  of  the  Gatesburg,  is  a 
virtual  continuation  of  that  deposit,  lying  at  the  eastern 
end  of  the  same  cove. 

The  pit  is  opened  about  300'  N.  E.  and  S.  W.,  150'  N.  AY. 
and  S.  E.  and  to  a  depth  of  about  307,  or  100  x  50  x  100  = 
50,000  cu.  yds.,  or  say  10,000  cubic  yards  or  20,000  tons  of 
ore  at  a  wash  of  1  :  5. 

The  ore  is  hauled  out  of  the  cut  by  mules  along  a  tram- 
way around  the  hill  to  the  washer,  located  there  to  secure 


152  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

drainage  down  the  cove  to  the  north  and  thence  by  a  stream 
towards  Curtin  gap,  in  Bald  Eagle  mountain.  It  is  ques- 
tionable whether  the  settling  dam,  located  in  a  ravine  be- 
tween the  limestone  ridge  and  the  mine,  is  not  badly  situ- 
ated, as  successful  tests  for  ore  have  been  made  along  both 
sides  of  cove.  Indeed,  the  question  of  a  proper  site  for 
mud  dams  in  many  parts  of  this  ore  belt  is  frequently  the 
hardest  one  to  decide — not  where  to  locate  for  ore. 

At  this  bank  the  ore  practically  begins  at  the  surface, 
only  a  few  inches  of  top  soil  overlying  it.  The  ore  is  gen- 
erally mixed  with  a  dark  red  clay  containing  but  little  Hint. 
The  elevation  by  barometer  is  10'  higher  than  Gatesburg. 

The  deposit  is  greatest  N.  E.  andS.  W.  The  cut  showed 
some  little  clay  in  north  face  at  time  of  examination  and  a 
"  horse"  of  clay  on  east  side  which  has  been  left  un- 
touched. Excavation  east  of  this  has  developed  first-class 
ore. 

The  main  body  of  ore  lies  south  of  the  cove.  The  north 
ridge  is  stony  and  probably  cuts  off  the  ore  in  that  direction. 

North  of  the  washer  70  feet,  No.  II  crops  out.  dipping  S. 
E.  20°.  It  crops  again  in  a  small  pit  on  the  north  side  of 
small  lane,  dipping  22°  S.  E.  This  limestone,  however,  seems 
to  be  wedged  in  between  ore,  for  the  well  at  washer  went 
down  120'  before  striking  rock  in  place.  Shafting  has  been 
carried  down  52'  from  bottom  of  mine,  all  in  good  wash  ore. 

The  tram  road  has  a  grade  of  4  feet  in  100  or  just  suffi- 
cient to  be  overcome  by  one  mule  with  4  cars. 

The  cove  to  the  north  slopes  rapidly  N.  E.  to  the  edge 
of  the  Sand  ridge  "barrens,  in  which  lower  measures  are 
brought  up  just  east  of  the  public  road. 

The  Taylor  bank  ore  is  all  pipe,  broken  at  the  surface  but 
found  larger  in  the  bottom,  and  is  cheaply  mined  ($1.00  per 
ton).  McCreath'  s  analysis  of  263  pieces  this  ore,  dried  at 
212°  F.  and  sampled  in  Sept.,  1881,  gives : 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,    .   .       65.321 

"  "  manganese, 237 

'  "  cobalt,         070 

Oxide  of  zinc, 010 

Alumina, 1.986 

Lime,        1.090 

Magnesia, .367 


BELLEFONTE-NITTANY  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.  153 

Sulphuric  acid, 055 

Phosphoric  acid, 423 

Water,      12.194 

Insoluble  residue, 18.480 


Total, 100.233 


Metallic  iron, 45.725 

"        manganese, 165 

Sulphur,          022 

Phosphorus,      .    .  185 

Phos.  in  100  parts  Fe, 404 

Another  sample  of  this  ore  was  taken  at  the  same  time 
and  for  the  same  purpose  as  the  Gatesburg — Sept.  1883,  and 
analysed  by  McCreath,  with  the  following  result : — 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,  70.583 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese, 206 

Alumina, 905 

Lime,        330 

Magnesia, 367 

Sulphuric  acid, 050 

Phosphoric  acid, 318 

Water— combined,      10.233 

Water— hygroscopic, 2.643 

Siliceous  matter, 14.350 

Total, 99.985 


Iron,      49.408 

Manganese, 144 

Sulphur, 020 

Phosphorus,       139 

Phos.  in  100  parts  Fe, 281 

While  this  analysis  shows  a  marked  increase  of  iron 
(nearly  4  per  cent,)  and  a  decrease  of  phosphorus,  it  estab- 
lishes the  general  constancy  of  the  character  of  these  ores 
over  considerable  periods  of  mining. 

This  property  has  been  likewise  fully  tested.  It  is  con- 
tinuous with  the  Gatesburg  bank,  to  which  it  belongs 
geologically. 

Plant  here  consists  of  a  double  24'  washer,  capacity  45 
tons.  Two  wells  244' and  251'  deep  with  a  standing  column 
of  75'  water.  Both  wells  are  8'  shafts  with  5'  working  bar- 
rels. 40  h.  p.  engine  runs  pumps  and  washer. 


South  of  this  last  range  of  ores  f  mile  and  geologically 
from  800-1000  feet  high  in  the  limestone  series,  there  is 
another  horizon  of  pipe  ores,  whose  character  is  best  seen  in 


154  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D' INVILLIERS. 

9.  The  Nigh  Bank.  This  tract,  also  owned  by  Messrs. 
Valentines  &  Co.,  contains  about  31  acres,  and  is  situated 
about  3  miles  S.  E.  of  Bellefonte  in  Spring  township,  like 
all  those  already  mentioned. 

Its  elevation  above  tide  is  about  that  of  the  Gatesburg 
bank,  or  1050',  the  valley  rising  southwards  as  Nittany 
mountain  is  approached. 

This  tract  was  made  historically  famous  as  the  scene  of 
sinking  the  first  artesian  well  in  this  county  by  Mr.  Robt. 
Valentine,  which  important  step  led  to  a  renewed  life  and 
vigor  in  mining  throughout  this  whole  district,  so  filled 
with  sink-holes  and  destitute  of  water. 

Before  this  time,  all  the  ore  mined  in  this  county  had  to  be 
transported  to  the  banks  of  streams  or  carried  unwashed  to 
the  furnace,  or  more  often  simply  screened  on  large  screen- 
ing doors  and  the  large  lumps  alone  carried  to  the  furnace 
and  broken  up  there. 

Many  of  these  old  screening  floors  still  exist  and  the  tail- 
ings accumulated  there  over  considerable  areas  5'-10'  thick 
are  all  capable  of  utilization  after  washing. 

At  that  time  the  location  of  the  Nigh  bank  was  conspicu- 
ously inauspicious,  and  we  can  judge  of  the  good  quality 
of  its  ore  from  the  fact  of  its  having  been  worked  so  many 
years  without  any  facilities  for  washing  its  product. 
Located  on  high  ground  midway  between  Logan's  branch 
and  Little  Fishing  creek,  the  ore  would  necessarily  have  to 
travel  long  distances  to  undergo  the  washing  process. 

The  developed  area  (July  16. 1883,)  extends  N.  E.  from  the 
township  road  at  M.  Love's  house  for  about  300  yards,  with 
a  width  (N.  50°  W.,  and  S.  50°  E.,)  of  about  150  yards: 

The  outcrop  is  abundant  for  about  150  yards  additional 
to  the  S.  E.  down  into  cove,  and  has  been  tested  in  many 
pits  10'-3()'  deep. 

North-east  the  ore  "blossom"  extends  very  distinctly 
for  200  yards  across  adjoining  fields  of  Dr.  Hale  and  J. 
Kaufman,  in  which  Valentines  &  Co.  control  the  ore  rights. 

To  the  north  a  low  limestone  ridge  weakens  the  deposit, 
though  a  good  surface  show  extends  well  up  its  cresr. 

From  its  position  in  a  hollow,  the  bank  is  difficult  to  drain 


BELLEFONTE-NITTANY  VALLEY    GROUP.  T*.    155 

without  pumping,  so  that  it  has  been  worked  N.  E.  from  the 
public  road  at  the  washer,  in  a  series  of  terraces,  leaving 
pits  as  the  work  advances  to  catch  the  water. 

Much  valuable  territory  has  thus  been  occupied  which 
could  soon  be  released  by  a  proper  system  of  drainage.  At 
present  all  the  ore  mined  is  being  carried  out  the  cut  with 
carts,  which  necessarily  limits  the  production  to  a  great 
extent. 

In  the  bank  the  show  is  especially  good  to  the  N.  E., 
where  work  is  being  carried  on  at  present ;  but  mainly  be- 
cause fresh  exposures  are  made  there  which  the  surface 
wash  covers  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  mine. 

There  is  a  clean  face  of  ore  there  (July  16,  1883,)  but 
slightly  mixed  with  clay  30'  high  with  most  excellent  mate- 
rial in  the  bottom. 

On  the  north  side  the  wash  ore  is  very  good,  but  the  red 
clay  with  it  is  very  tough  and  "  bails  "  in  the  washer. 

The  show  is  good,  however,  from  surface  down  to  water 
at  22'. 

Large  bowlders  of  decomposed  limestone  can  be  seen  in 
various  parts  of  the  opening,  but  they  do  not  seem  to  dis- 
place the  ore  at  all,  arid  have  been  worked  around  similar 
to  the  Taylor  and  the  Hecla  bank  near  Hublersburg. 

The  old  cuts  along  the  north  face  are  pretty  well  filled 
with  water,  but  show  good  faces  of  ore  north  to  Love's 
dwelling,  which  is  probably  located  oi*a  good  body  of  ore. 

The  south  face  of  the  mine  shows  limestone  bowlders 
also,  and  is  covered  with  a  thick  surface  of  screenings  from 
former  operations. 

Towards  the  south-east,  in  the  next  field,  but  still  on  the 
north  side  of  the  cove,  a  shaft  has  been  put  down  50'  in  ore. 
The  dirt  pile  from  this  hole  shows  excellent  pipe  ore  very 
free  from  siliceous  matter. 

Numerous  other  holes  from  20'-30'  deep  have  been  put 
down  on  this  tract  with  varying  but  encouraging  results. 
Only  about  five  acres  of  the  tract  seem  to  have  been  mined, 
and  the  results  are  about  as  follows  : 

Excavation  300x150x8=360,000  cubic  yards  material, 
much  of  which  will  wash  1:4.  At  an  average  of  1:5,  this 


156  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

gives  72,000  cubic  yards.  With  due  allowance  for  barren 
spots  and  clay  banks,  probably  125,000  tons  of  ore  have 
been  raised  here.  From  surface  outcrops  and  test  pits  this 
mine  may  be  expected  to  turn  out  probably  three  times  the 
above,  as  the  surface  deposit  of  wash  ore  extends  over 
ground  700  yards  long  and  averaging  250  yards  wide. 

These  estimates,  however,  are  based  entirely  on  the  sup- 
position that  future  mining  will  develop  as  prolific  ground 
as  formerly,  and  are  by  no  means  decisive. 

The  following  are  McCreath's  analyses  of  this  ore,  which 
is  well  adopted  for  boiler  iron  : 

No.  1.  258  pieces  from  ore  pile ;  sampled  by  McCreath 
Sept.,  1881 ;  dried  at  No.  212°  F. 

No.  2.  Sampled  by  Messrs  Valentine  from  furnace  pile 
Sept.,  1883. 

(i)  (2) 

Protoxide  of  iron, 289 

Sesquioxide,     72.285  72.500 

"           manganese,        206  .103 

"  cobalt,      110 

Oxide  of  zinc, 010 

Alumina, 1.220  .723 

Lime, 1.010  .310 

Magnesia,       540  .468 

Sulphuric  acid, '     .070  .057 

Phosphoric  acid,         252  .247 

Water    \  Combined, 10.342  10.050 

'   '  Hygroscopic, 2,590 

Siliceous  matter , 13.570  12.770 

Total, • 99.904  99.818 

Metallic  iron,      50.285  50.750 

Metallic  maganese, 144  .072 

Sulphur, 028  .023 

Phosphorus,        Ill  .108 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron, .216  .213 

These  two  analyses  speak  for  themselves.  This  ore  is 
used  extensively  by  the  Messrs.  Valentine  at  their  Belle- 
fonte  iron  works,  and  the  furnace  record  running  on  this 
ore  solely  shows  a  ton  of  pig  metal  repeatedly  to  have  been 
made  out  of  2|  tons  of  ore. 

Plant.  There  is  one  double  25'  washer  here,  giving  50'  of 
traveling  surface,  and  cleaning  35  to  40  tons  a  day. 


BELLEFQNTE-NITTANY  VALLEY    GROUP.  T4.    157 

Two  wells  supply  a  constant  amount  of  the  purest  water. 
One  well  is  180'  deep;  the  other  200'  deep. 

Their  record  shows  mixed  ore  and  clay  for  60'-70',  and 
then  limestone.  The  washing  apparatus  is  of  the  most  sim- 
ple construction,  and  seems  entirely  adequate  to  the  work  it 
is  called  upon  to  perform. 

It  and  the  wells  are  both  run  by  a  50  h.  p.  engine,  16 
inch  cylinder,  and  2  foot  stroke.  The  wells  are  of  the  regu- 
lar oil-well  pattern,  having  walking-beam  attachment,  and 
pumping  into  a  cistern  180  gallons  per  minute. 

Steam  is  furnished  by  one  pair  50  h.  p.  boilers,  16'  long, 
4'  2"  diameter,  with  thirty-six  3f "  tubes. 

There  is  ample  room  for  enlargement  of  plant,  as  the  de- 
mand for  ore  increases,  and  with  the  introduction  of  an  in- 
clined plane  N.  E.  of  the  present  plant,  the  production 
could  be  increased  live-fold,  besides  being  vastly  more  con- 
venient. 

Though  mining  is  being  actually  carried  on  at  but  one 
place  on  this  horizon  the  ore  bed  has  an  extensive  and  pro- 
lific outcrop  westward  for  several  miles. 

Ann  Potion  Tract. 

West  of  the  public  road  passing  the  Nigh  bank,  on  the 
Messrs.  Valentine's  Ann  Patton  tract  of  400  acres,  pipe  ore 
exists  over  a  considerable  area. 

This  tract  lies  mid  way  between  the  Nigh  bank  and  the  old 
Logan  mines  of  the  Messrs.  Curtin,  on  Logan's  branch,  2 
miles  south  of  Bellefonte. 

The  low  country  through  which  the  Fishing  creek  road  to 
Bellefonte  passes  shows  a  comparatively  weak  crop.  But 
rising  on  the  hill  400  yards  S.  60°  W.  from  Milliken's  house 
excellent  "  blossom  "  of  pipe  ore,  free  from  foreign  matter, 
appears. 

When  visited,  July  17, 1883,  the  fields  had  been  recently 
in  grass  and  grain,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  open  pits  here, 
no  very  reliable  estimates  of  the  extent  of  this  surface  crop 
could  be  made.  But  it  can  be  distinctly  traced  from  the 
point  first  named  for  300  yards  S.  W.  to  the  divide  leading 
down  to  the  Lewistown  pike. 


158  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

The  line  of  deepest  and  best  deposit  runs  about  50'  south 
of  Dr.  Hale's  house,  marked  on  map. 

Though  a  limestone  ridge  cuts  off  the  ore  to  the  south, 
the  extent  of  this  surface  deposit  can  be  put  down  at  300 
yards  N.  E.  and  S.  W.  and  100  yards  N.  W.  and  S.  E. 

For  three  quarters  of  a  mile  west  from  this  tract  the  land 
slopes  into  the  valley  of  Logan's  branch  to  Spring  creek. 
The  large  surface  crop  here  has  yielded  to  the  general  denuda- 
tion of  this  region,  and  has  been  swept  northwards  through 
the  Bellel'onte  gap  by  the  power  of  the  eroding  waters. 

But  the  existence  of  the  bed  in  place,  which  apparently 
furnishes  the  surface  crop  to  the  east,  where  it  is  still  buried 
to  a  great  extent,  is  evidenced  in  the  magnificent  pipes  taken 
out  of  the  old  Logan  mine. 

All  the  ore  in  this  low  country  has  been  found  in  silti 
between  walls  of  south-east  dipping  limestone. 

10.  Logan  bank,  (Curt in  Bros.}  Though  this  bank  has 
been  long  idle  on  account  of  the  difficulty  encountered  in 
keeping  the  old  workings  clear  of  water,  it  has  played  an 
important  part  in  the  past  and  only  awaits  modern  mining- 
appliances  and  adequate  pumping  machinery  to  furnish  a 
large  amount  of  excellent  ore  to  its  owners. 

Lying  about  2  miles  south,  of  Bellefonte  and  chiefly  opened 
on  the  east  side  of  Logan  branch,  a  bed  of  pipe  ore  from  two 
to  ten  feet  thick  was  explored  here  to  a  depth  of  120  feet  in 
numerous  places. 

The  outcrop  extends  from  the  Valentine  line  on  the  east 
along  public  road,  west  down  draft  and  across  the  J.  Irvin 
property,  to  be  again  opened  in  the  Lindsay  Coates  tract 
of  Messrs.  Valentine  on  west  side  of  main  stream. 

The  wash  deposit  extends  over  hill  (east  side  of  creek) 
for  nearly  300  yds,  N.  and  S.  and  has  been  grubbed  for  ore 
in  a  multitude  of  places  from  6'  to  20'  deep  until  the  hill- 
side presents  the  appearance  of  an  open  graveyard. 

A  prominent  limestone  ridge  cuts  off  the  ore  to  the  north, 
though  north  of  it  some  successful  pits  have  been  sunk, 
probably  on  the  Gatesburg-  Taylor  horizon. 

Most  of  the  ore  in  this  property  hns  been  won  by  under- 


BELLEFONTE-NITTANY  VALLEY    GROUP.          T4.  159 

ground  workings,  drifts  having  been  run  in  N.  E.  100  yds. 
from  flat  at  forks  of  road. 

North  and  south  of  this  line  a  great  deal  of  surface  ore 
has  been  dug  by  contractors  and  sent  to  Curtin's  furnace, 
though  no  work  has  been  done  here  during  the  last  five 
years. 

A  series  of  successful  shafts  likewise  furnished  a  great 
deal  of  ore  from  the  Irvin  property  on  the  west  side  of  small 
road  leading  up  draft  from  the  pike. 

Water  has  always  been  an  obstacle  here,  and  nothing  but 
careful  systematic  mining  will  yield  economical  results. 

Much  of  the  surface  shows  a  great  deal  of  flint  mixed 
with  the  ore,  and  any  surface  operations  will  require  jig- 
ging. The  ore  from  the  pipe  bed,  however,  is  very  clean, 
and  gives  excellent  results  in  the  furnace. 

The  land  just  referred  to  shows  No.  II  sandy  niagnesian 
limestone  dipping  S.  E.  25°. 

The  Belief  on  te  back  road  to  the  east  shows  outcrops  of 
No.  II  near  Miller  and  Humes'  places  dipping  N.  W.  40°, 
so  that  the  Nittany  anticlinal  axis  passes  just  north  of  the 
property,  about  a  mile  distant. 

Lindsay  Coates"1  tra.ct,  (Valentine  &  Co.) 

11.  Passing  to  west  side  of  creek  the  ground  rises  abruptly 
to  a  height  of  120  feet  above  level  of  Logan's  branch. 

The  land  here  is  only  high  comparatively,  owing  to  the 
great  erosion  brought  about  by  the  rapid  flow  of  Logan's 
branch.  This  elevated  ground,  from  the  creek  west  for 
over  a  mile  includes  the  Lindsay  Coates  tract,  which  I  re 
gard  as  one  of  the  best  undeveloped  pieces  of  territory  in 
the  county. 

I  do  not  hesitate  in  saying  that  it  is  one  the  best  and  most 
extensive  surface  shows  I  have  seen  in  Nittany  valley, 
whether  for  quantity  of  ore  over  a  given  area  or  for  the 
purity  of  the  deposit. 

The  existence  of  the  bed  in  place  has  been  extensively 
proved  many  years  ago  by  a  drift  run  into  the  hill  S.  W. 
from  creek  level.  Ore  from  this  drift  was  run  out  on  small 
cars  right  to  the  mouth  of  the  old  Logan  furnace,  which 
stood  until  184^  on  Logan's  branch,  just  at  the  base  of  this 


160  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

hill  and  near  the  present  site  of  Hick's  Cement  works.  The 
Messrs.  Valentine  state  that  a  bed  of  pipe  ore  was  found 
between  regularly  S.  E.  dipping  limestones  (35°-40°).  The 
bed  was  6'  thick,  often  pinching,  as  is  characteristic  of  these 
deposits,  along  the  line  of  strike  as  well  as  dip. 

Upon  coming  against  a  hard,  flinty  bed  of  limestone  in 
the  old  drift,  it  was  decided  to  do  some  stoping. 

Stopes  were  accordingly  carried  up  in  places  nearly  to 
the  surface. 

Meanwhile  a  shaft  had  been  sunk  in  the  excellent  surface 
deposit  on  the  top  of  the  hill  for  100'±,  coming  on  to  the 
solid  bed,  which  was  followed  by  a  winze  from  the  bottom 
of  the  shaft  to  the  old  drift. 

The  Lindsay  Ooates  tract  contains  215  acres. 

The  topographical  position  of  the  ore  body  is  well  marked, 
and  does  not  need  a  practiced  eye  to  define. 

This  is  a  deeply -marked  groove  or  furrow  on  top  of  the 
hill,  bearing  about  N.  50°  E.  and  S.  50°  W.,  and  rising  and 
shoaling  at  the  same  time  S.  W.,  just  beyond  the  line  of  the 
next  adjoining  Uriah  Woolman  tract. 

Two  gentle  hills  on  either  side  of  it — north  and  south — 
mark  the  position  of  outcropping  limestone,  which  practi- 
cally limits  the  extent  of  the  surface  deposit. 

Throughout  probably  60  acres  of  this  tract  a  splendid 
crop  may  be  found,  literally  a  sheet  of  ore,  1500  yards  long 
and  200  yards  wide. 

A  shaft  30'  deep  on  north  side  of  basin  showed  mixed  ore 
and  clay  to  the  bottom,  and  many  smaller  trial  pits  5  to  10 
feet  deep  show  excellent  results. 

The  deposit  is  wider  at  Logan' s  branch  than  at  the  Wool- 
man line,  narrowing  from  250  to  150  yards. 

The  small  summit  referred  to  above,  marking  the  shoal- 
ing of  the  ore,  by  no  means  cuts  it  off  entirely. 

It  is,  however,  weaker  and  more  flinty  there. 

The  summit  is  about  200'  (barometer)  above  Logan's 
branch. 

The  deposit  can  be  traced  west  through  the  Woolman 
tract,  with  rich  showing  to  the  south  of  the  school-house 
on  the  Boalsburg  pike. 


BELLEFONTE-NITTANY  VALLEY    GROUP.          T1.  161 

Some  recent  trial  shafts  sunk  here  by  Mr.  Abraham  Val- 
entine revealed  even  greater  richness  than  the  surface  show 
indicated. 

Crossing  the  pike  at  the  red  brick  house  of  Mr.  A. 
Schwartz  the  surface  deposit  is  lost  in  the  deep  gully  back 
of  the  school-house.  But  100  yards  west  of  the  pike,  in 
the  bottom  of  the  ravine,  just  north-east  of  Mr.  Reynolds', 
some  excellent  pipe  ore  has  been  removed  from  the  bed  in 
place.  A  deep  shaft  was  put  down  here  some  years  ago, 
and  pipes  4  to  5  feet  long  removed. 

Water  again  drowned  out  operations  here,  but  sufficient 
was  done  to  prove  the  presence  of  the  bed  in  situ,  and  in  a 
line  with  the  other  deposits. 

The  elevation  of  the  surface  at  the  shaft  above  tide 
(barometer)  is  1024';  Belle fonte,  744'. 

Some  little  surface  ore  shows  on  side  hills  here,  but  is 
generally  mixed  with  two-thirds  flint. 

This  will  give  the  Woolman  tract,  however,  east  of  pike, 
a  deposit  600  yards  long  and  100-150  yards  wide. 


11  T*. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
Brown  hematite  ores  of  No.  II,  continued. 

B.  Jacksonville  Valley  group. 

The  ore  banks  of  this  group  are  all  confined  to  Marion 
township,  and  lie  on  the  north  side  of  the  Sand  ridge, 
though  everywhere  related  to  the  sandy  measures  of  this 
ridge  or  to  limestones  interbedded  with  them. 

12.  The  Zimmerman  bank,  the  first  opening  nearest  the 
Spring  township  line,  is  located  about  4|  miles  E.  N.  E. 
from  Belief onte  and  about  |  mile  south  of  the  north  road 
leading  through  the  valley. 

The  bank  was  idle  on  July  18, 1883,  and  showed  a  roughly 
oval  pit  150'  N.  E.  and  S.  W.  and  100'  N.  W.  and  S.  E.,  and 
20  feet  deep.  The  elevation  at  mine  is  about  800'  A.  T. 

The  sides  were  greatly  washed  and  rather  stony.  The 
ore  is  apparently  a  finely  divided  pipe  though  occasionally 
showing  compact  masses. 

A  great  deal  of  this  harder  variety  however,  is  accom- 
panied with  a  hard  white  crystalline  substance,  probably 
chalcedony,  filling  honeycomb  cavities  in  the  ore  mass,  and 
composed  mostly  of  silica,  with  small  quantities  of  lime 
and  magnesia. 

This  is  hurtful  to  the  ore,  making  it  hard  to  flux,  and  re- 
quiring careful  selection  of  the  ore  for  furnace  use. 

This  ore  has  been  used  at  Curtin's  furnace  and  Milesburg 
iron  works.  There  was  about  50  tons  on  the  dump  July 
18.  All  the  ore  was  washed  on  the  ground  by  water  brought 
through  pipes  from  a  spring  on  the  north  side  of  the  valley 
road  £  a  mile  away. 

(163  T*.) 


164  T4.     KEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

13.  The  Darrah  bank  (McCoy  &  Linn),  is  situated  %  mile 
east  of  Zimmerman's,  and  separated  by  the  Lewis  farms, 
through  which  the  ore  crop  is  continuous  but  narrow  and 
weak.  It  is  on  the  same  range,  however,  and  about  an 
equal  distance  in  from  the  road. 

It  lies  along  north  flank  of  Sand  ridge,  but  entirely  in 
siliceous  blue  limestones,  interbedded  with  more  sandy 
measures  and  all  dipping  8.  E.  (overturned)  into  the  hill 
at  angles  of  20°-25°. 

The  bank  has  been  but  slightly  worked  owing  to  the  diffi- 
culty in  getting  water.  A  well  was  sunk  240'  deep  in  clay, 
passing  through  10'  of  ore  at  a  depth  of  100  feet,  but  owing 
to  bad  management  of  the  drillers,  constant  break-downs 
led  to  its  abandonment. 

The  elevation  of  the  well  mouth  is  by  barometer  250' 
above  the  level  of  the  creek  below  in  the  valley,  so  that  the 
well  was  probably  abandoned  a  little  too  soon. 

Though  but  little  mining  has  been  done,  the  ground  has 
been  considerably  tested,  so  that  the  outcrop  here  may  be 
identified  with  more  or  lesls  omission  west  through  the 
Lewis,  Zimmerman,  Harter,  Tibbens  and  Brockerhoff  farms 
to  the  nose  of  the  hill,  where  some  little  opening  has  also 
been  done. 

A  distinct  cove  runs  up  from  the  valley  to  the  Darrah 
bank  and  it  is  in  the  continuation  of  this  cove  that  devel- 
opments have  been  made. 

The  lowest  opening  is  a  small  pit  50'x25'x6',  from  which 
some  finely  divided  pipe  ore  was  thrown  out. 

The  second  cut  is  200  yards  further  S.  W.,  right  up 
against  face  of  hill,  and  is  a  narrow  trench  20'  deep  follow- 
ing trend  of  rocks.  These  are  dark  blue  flaggy  limestones 
dipping  25°  south-east  into  the  hill. 

The  upper  cut  is  200'  long,  60'  wide  and  20'  deep  with 
the  same  general  characteristics. 

Innumerable  pits  surround  these  main  openings,  but  the 
deposit  is  evidently  a  narrow  one,  with  but  little  surface 
wash,  and  mainly  confined  to  the  rock,  dipping  with  it  into 
the  hill. 

The  ore  is  accompanied  with  a  fine,   aluminous  clay,  a 


JACKSONVILLE  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.  165 

decomposed  product,  probably,  of  an  intercalated  slate. 
Mr.  McCoy  speaks  highly  of  the  behavior  of  this  ore  in 
the  furnace  use. 

The  following  analysis  of  McCreath's  sample  of  93  pieces 
taken  Sept.,  1881,  and  dried  tat  212°  F.,  will  show  the 
character  of  the  ore  : 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,     71.142 

"        "  manganese, 568 

Alumina, 1.124 

Lime,         400 

Magnesia,         392 

Sulphuric  acid, 100 

Phosphoric    " 423 

Water, 11.102 

Insoluble  matter,      14.830 

Total 100.081 

Metallic  iron, 49.800 

"       manganese 396 

Sulphur, 040 

Phosphorus,     .  185 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron, 371 

(14.)  The  McCalmont  bank  is  the  next  opening  E.  JS".  E. 
though  fully  3  miles  from  the  Darrah  bank. 

The  intervening  farms  of  S.  Vanada,  O.  P.  Orr  and  J. 
McCalmont  all  show  some  little  ore,  though  largely  mixed 
with  sand  and  debris  from  the  "barrens." 

It  is  probable,  however,  that  all  these  ores  along  the 
north  flank  of  Sand  ridge  are  referable  to  one  horizon,  and 
that  low  down  in  II,  lower  than  the  Gatesburg-Taylor  ores. 

This  bank  is  located  along  the  north  flank  of  the  ridge, 
and  about  200  feet  below  its  crest  and  about  850'  (barometer). 

The  bank  has  evidently  been  long  abandoned.  It  shows 
aflat  filled  up  and  grass-grown  pit,  100  x  20  x  3=6000  cu. 
yds.  of  excavation.  Its  washed  sides  show  considerable 
nard  lump  ore  mixed  with  pipe,  though  the  latter  predomi- 
nates. In  1838,  when  operated,  this  bank  yielded  40  tons 
of  pipe  ore  a  day  from  a  shaft  25  feet  deep. 

(15.)  The  Butler  bank  is  one  mile  to  the  east  and  in  sight 
of  this  mine,  and  1  mile  south  of  Jacksonville,  on  property 
of  Judge  Irwin.  Like  most  of  the  mines  in  lower  Nittany  val- 


166  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

ley,  this  bank  was  idle  when  examined,  August  18, 1883,  and 
much  of  the  statistical  information  gathered  was  furnished 
by  Messrs.  McCoy  and  Divens,  both  of  whom  have  been 
long  identified  with  mining  operations  here. 

The  bank  is  about  100  yards  east  of  the  public  road  from 
Howard  to  Hublersburg,  and  is  by  barometer380'  above  How- 
ard, or  1059'  A.  T. 

The  hole  is  roughly  oval,  50  x  50  x  15  =  37,500  cu.  yds. 

A  shaft  was  put  down  9(V  by  Judge  Divens,  who  first 
opened  it,  and  reports  the  shipment  of  about  8000  tons  to 
Ralston,  above  William  sport. 

Most  of  it  was  a  liver  colored,  hard  hematite  peculiar  to 
the  sandy  "  barrens,"  which  required  but  little  cleaning. 

After  being  screened  of  its  dirt  and  fine  ore,  which  still 
remain  as  a  huge  pile  at  the  mine,  the  lump  ore  was  shipped 
in  boats  to  Lock  Haven  and  thence  by  rail  to  Ralston. 

The  ore  occurs  in  place  here.  The  bed  was  drifted  E. 
and  W.  from  bottom  of  pit,  and  the  bulk  of  the  ore  re- 
moved in  that  way.  The  surface  deposit  was  60  wide',  thin- 
ning in  a  wedge  shape  toward  the  hillside. 

Limestone  shows  in  both  N.  and  S.  faces  of  bank,  dip- 
ping 50°  S.  E.  The  cut  has  not  been  worked  for  many 
years,  and  most  of  the  cheap  ore  has  been  removed. 

The  sides  are  greatly  washed,  and  though  the  mine  is 
considerably  north  of  the  "ridge,"  the  sand  has  been  spread 
over  the  surface  from  15  to  20  feet  deep,  effectually  cover- 
ing the  crop. 

The  ore  contains  a  considerable  amount  of  sulphur,  and 
would  wash  about  1:  6. 

Some  little  exploration  has  been  done  on  west  side  of 
road,  Jos.  Long's  property,  but  the  developments  have  been 
long  since  closed  up.  The  Butler  ore  is  claimed  to  run  from 
45-50  per  cent,  of  iron. 

Eastward  these  ores  are  becoming  everywhere  covered 
with  more  sand  and  clay,  owing  to  the  sinking  of  the  Nit- 
tany  valley  axis  and  decrease  in  the  dip  of  the  rocks. 

(16.)  The  Hoy  and  Smith  banks  are  about  2  miles  east 


JACKSONVILLE  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.  167 

from  the  Butler  bank.  They  are  both  abandoned,  but  are 
located  on  geologically  colored  county  map. 

The  first  is  on  property  of  Geo.  S.  Hoy  on  the  north  side 
of  Sand  ridge  and  about  400  yds.  S.  from  the  valley  road. 

Pipe  ore  of  a  very  good  quality  was  found  here  about  four 
years  ago.  A  drift  was  run  south  into  the  hill  for  about  30' 
and  6'  deep,  open  at  top,  from  which  Judge  Divens  took 
out  quite  a  number  of  tons.  Most  of  this  was  sold  to  future 
operators  of  Jacksonville,  who  sank  three  shafts  further 
south  to  strike  bed. 

One  of  these,  a  windlass  shaft  30'  deep,  went  through  20' 
of  clay  and  sand  and  drove  north  from  bottom  of  shaft  until 
the  bed  was  struck. 

The  rocks  carrying  the  ore,  however,  are  dipping  steeply 
{50°)  S.  E.,  and  the  ore  bed  from  3'-8'  thick  crops  to  the 
north  of  these  shafts.  Some  of  this  ore  was  shipped  to 
Milesburg,  and  the  rest  to  the  Mill  Hall  furnaces. 

The  Smith  'bank,  still  further  east,  is  said  to  have  shown 
up  well,  but  little  could  be  learned  about  it.  It  is  on  Joseph 
Long's  property  and  is  abandoned. 

17.  The  Beck  bank  (property  of  Howard  Furnace  Co. )  lies 
about  2  miles  east  of  Jacksonville  and  is  the  next  develop- 
ment in  this  range  eastward. 

Elevation  by  barometer  325'  above  Bellefonte,  or  1070'. 

It  was  idle  when  visited,  Aug.  6,  work  having  ceased 
about  the  middle  of  July. 

Excavation  shows  300'  N.  E.  and  S.  W.,  100'  N.  and  S., 
and  from  10'-40'  deep.  This  will  give  100  x  30  x  10  =  30, 000 
cu.  yds. 

The  bank  lies  on  a  flat  with  a  slight  cove  to  the  south  of 
it  and  between  it  and  Sand  ridge.  Its  rocks  are  all  over- 
turned, dipping  steeply  S.  E.,  and  are  not  far  from  the  over- 
turned arch  of  the  anticlinal  axis. 

A  shaft  close  to  the  east  end  of  the  bank  went  through 
35'  of  excellent  pipe  ore  wash.  Water  is  scarce.  One 
well  200'  north  of  present  well  was  carried  down  600'± 
through  limestone  without  finding  water,  entailing  great 
•expense. 


168  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  Y.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

The  present  well  was  sunk  150'  through  sandy  measures 
and  82'  through  limestone  before  getting  water. 

The  bank  is  worked  by  an  incline  plane,  but  the  tracks 
in  bottom  were  all  covered  with  water,  concealing  the  sur- 
face. 

The  engine-house  is  awkwardly  located,  the  track  having 
to  take  a  sharp  bend  to  work  the  present  west  face. 

It  was  no  doubt  intended  to  work  the  territory  directly 
north  of  it,  which  has  been  temporarily  abandoned  for  richer 
ground. 

The  most  recent  work  was  apparently  done  in  the  west 
face,  where  some  hard  liver-colored  hematite  has  been  found, 
occurring  under  a  thick  covering  of  sand  and  gravel  detritus. 

The  south  and  east  faces  are  sandy,  showing  also  bunches 
of  white  clay.  The  north  face  exhibits  most  ore. 

The  engine-house  was  closed.  There  is  a  single  24'  washer 
here,  raised  6  inches  at  the  delivery  end. 

Mr.  McCreath  sampled  this  mine  in  the  fall  of  1881. 

The  following  is  his  analysis  of  153  pieces  dried  at  212°  F. : 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,  58.000 

"  "  manganese, 1.624 

Alumina, 2.340 

Lime, 370 

Magnesia, .306 

Sulphuric  acid, 075 

Phosphoric  acid, 373 

Water,         10.950 

Insoluble  matter, 25.920 

Total, .      99.958 


Metallic  iron, 40.600 

"        manganese, 1.131 

Sulphur,         030 

Phosphorus, 163 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron, 401 

The  analysis  is  not  very  flattering,  due  more  I  think  to 
bad  washing  than  to  any  inherent  deficiency  in  the  ore. 
A  percentage  of  25.920  of  "insoluble  residue"  is  not  com- 
mon to  well-prepared  ores  in  this  county. 

18.  The  Washington  Furnace  bank.  Some  of  the  best 
ore  in  the  valley  is  found  $  mile  further  east  at  the  Wash- 


JACKSONVILLE  VALLEY  GROUP.        T4.  169 

ington  Furnace  bank,  opened  on  both  sides  of  the  road 
leading  over  Sand  ridge  to  Nittany  Hall. 

It  is  one  of  the  oldest  banks  in  Nittany  valley  and  has 
yielded  some  of  the  best  ore.  It  was  idle  when  visited  Aug. 
6,  1883. 

Various  openings  extend  for  nearly  a  mile  along  the  north 
flank  of  Sand  ridge,  the  first  one  on  the  west  being  about  £ 
mile  east  of  Beck's  bank. 

The  main  work  seems  to  have  been  done  close  to  the  road 
on  the  west  side  where  a  deep  open  cut  shows  probably  600' 
N.  E.  and  S.  W.,  200'  N.  W.  and  S.  E.  and  50'  deep,  or  an  ex- 
cavation of  about  220,000  cubic  yards. 

Several  masses  of  sandy  gray  limestone,  non-ferriferous, 
occur  in  the  south  face  dipping  about  S.  40°  E.  45°  towards 
hill. 

The  faces  are  all  washed  down  and  expose  little  or  no  ore. 
At  all  events,  but  little  cheap  ore  can  be  taken  from  this 
bank. 

From  here  N.  E.  along  this  belt,  there  are  numerous  open- 
ings, almost  continuous  for  1500  yards. 

Indeed,  the  outcrop  may  be  followed  to  the  Clinton  county 
line  where  ore  was  mined  to  some  extent  on  P.  McDowell's 
farm.  The  ore  is  everywhere  an  excellent  pipe. 

About  50  yards  N.  E.  from  the  road  an  old  engine-house 
and  washer  formerly  stood,  just  east  of  the  shanty  occu- 
pied by  Mr.  Doolen. 

The  elevation  here  (barometric)  was  about  1000  A.  T. 
East  from  here  there  is  a  small  pit  which  yielded  about  200 
tons,  now  pretty  well  filled  with  water. 

This  is  on  property  of  Delaney  heirs,  a  strip  of  14  acres 
lying  between  the  two  Washington  furnace  properties  and 
on  which  there  is  still  claimed  to  exist  a  considerable  amount 
of  ore. 

From  a  pile  of  25  or  30  tons  lying  around  bank,  I  judge 
the  ore  of  this  pit  to  have  been  a  lump  hematite,  unlike  the 
pipe  ore,  but  equally  as  good. 

There  is  a  well  here  165  feet  deep  in  limestone. 

In  the  hollow  and  flat  north  of  Delaney' s  house  the  ore 


170  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

has  again  been  extensively  worked  over  the  surface  but  to 
no  great  depth. 

There  are  two  long  trenches  here  pointing  and  narrowing 
JS".  E.  and  S.  W.,  but  not  directly  joined. 

The  ore  is  pipe  and  occurs  mixed  with  broken  limestone 
and  flint.  The  product  of  these  pits  was  washed  in  the  hol- 
low towards  Clinton  county. 

A  fair  show  of  ore  is  seen  in  the  west  end  of  the  eastern 
pit,  but  the  sides  generally  are  much  washed  and  obscured. 
In  some  places  a  depth  of  20  feet  has  been  reached,  but  fre- 
quently the  original  surface  is  still  left  intact  in  profitless 
knobs  in  the  banks. 

Very  little  massive  pipe  ore  is  to  be  seen.  No  work  has 
been  carried  on  here  for  8  or  9  years. 

A  sample  of  K)6  pieces  from  deep  cut  west  of  public  road 
gave  the  following  results  on  analysis  by  A.  S.  McCreath  : 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,     75.071 

"        "            manganese, .268 

Alumina, .642 

Lime .670 

Magnesia,      .648 

Sulphuric  acid, .060 

Phosphoric  acid, .231 

Water, 11.030 

Insoluble  matter, 11.760 


Total, 100.380 

fT  = 

Metallic  iron, 52.550 

"        manganese 187 

Sulphur, .024 

Phosphorus .101 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  of  iron, .191 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

Brown  Hematite  Ores  of  No.  II  continued. 
C.    Hublersburg  Valley  Group. 

Passing  now  to  the  south  side  of  the  Sand  ridge  barrens, 
we  meet  with  a  persistent  range  of  practically  similar  ores 
extending  from  the  country  north  of  Zion  to  the  Clinton 
county  line. 

They  occupy  a  similar  geological  horizon  to  those  occur- 
ring along  the  north  flank  of  the  ridge,  being  accompanied 
by  similar  rocks  in  t}ie  south  limb  of  the  anticlinal.  To 
take  them  up  in  the  line  of  their  development  from  west  to 
east  we  have  first 

19.  The  Field  bank  of  McCoy  &  Linn,  situated  about  2 
miles  N.  E.  of  Zion  and  about  the  same  distance  east  of 
the  end  of  the  Sand  ridge. 

Between  this  bank  and  the  Spring  township  line,  several 
attempts  have  been  made  to  find  ore  in  paying  quantities, 
but  without  any  marked  success. 

Favorable  surface  indications  exist  on  the  George  Fry 
tract  of  the  Messrs.  Valentine  and  in  some  old  ore  pits  on 
A.  T.  Zimmerman' s  farm.  But  the  surface  is  generally  very 
stony  and  barren  and  the  ores  are  probably  covered  with  a 
considerable  amount  of  sand  and  wash  material. 

At  Zimmerman's,  cherty  limestone  dips  S.  E.  40°. 

The  Field  bank  is  on  property  of  Ambrose  McMnllen,  but 
the  ore  rights  are  owned  by  Milesburg  Iron  Works.  It  lies 
about  250  yards  south  of  the  Sand  ridge  crest  and  850'  A.  T. 

It  shows  a  roughly  oval  bank  100'  N.  E.  and  S.  W.,  75' 
N.  W.  and  S.  E.  and  20'  deep.  The  bottom  is  now  filled 
with  water,  and  though  long  idleness  has  allowed  the  sides 

(171  T*.) 


172  T.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

to  become  very  much  covered  with  flint  and  clay,  some  very 
good  hematite  ore  is  still  exposed  in  the  east  face. 

No  pipe  ore  was  seen,  but  a  heavy  liver-colored  hematite 
like  that  occuring  in  the  western  end  of  the  county  char- 
acterizes the  mine  product ;  showing  under  a  cover  of  about 
18  inches  of  sandy  soil  talus  from  the  "ridge"  to  the  north. 

The  surface  deposit  is  about  75  yards  wide,  cut  off  south 
by  a  limestone  ridge,  and  extending  east  300  yards  to  the 
McKinney  bank. 

It  has  been  proved  on  the  Dunkle  farm  also. 

This  mine  was  first  opened  about  1860,  and  was  actively 
worked  for  ten  years,  during  which  time  much  of  the  large 
lump  ore  was  hauled  to  the  old  Hecla  furnace  at  the  base  of 
Nittany  mountain. 

The  abandonment  of  this  furnace  led  to  a  cessation  of 
mining  here  and  elsewhere  through  the  region,  while  a  sim- 
ilar action  on  the  part  of  the  managers  of  Washington  fur- 
nace completely  demoralized  the  industry  of  this  valley, 
until  during  1883  only  the  Hecla  bank  was  being  worked. 

Mr.  Frank  McCoy  speaks  highly  of  the  character  of  this 
ore  when  used  at  Hecla,  where  all  the  washing  was  done. 

The  want  of  railroad  communication  is  seriously  felt 
through  this  region,  but  outside  the  securing  of  a  charter 
for  the  Belief  onte  and  Nittany  Valley  R.  R.  from  Belief  on  te 
to  Mill  Hall  but  little  seems  to  have  been  done  to  open  up 
this  very  desirable  ore  field. 

(20.)  The  McKinney  bank  is  the  next  opening,  east  300 
yards,  on  land  of  Lindsay  Mehaffey  and  Mrs.  Bush. 

Sand  ridge,  which  hitherto  has  maintained  a  straight  and 
nearly  unbroken  crest  line,  becomes  greatly  furrowed  here 
and  its  crest  quite  knobby. 

The  ore  bank  must  lie  about  £  mile  south  from  its  sum- 
mit, and  reposes  between  two  of  these  furrows  formed  by 
hard  limestone  ribs  which  have  resisted  erosion. 

Of  this  very  old  bank  Prof.  Rogers  says,  in  Vol.  I,  page  500: 
"McKinney  bank,  opposite  Mount  Hecla  furnace,  *  *  * 
yields  over  a  space  of  two  acres  small  masses  of  ore  in  clay 
and  within  less  than  2'  of  the  surface.  One  shaft  was  sunk 
through  clay  3',  ore  22',  and  white  clay  and  sand  20'. 


HUBLERSBURG  VALLEY  GROFP.        T4.  173 

"One  variety  of  ore  was  a  dull,  brown  oxide,  not  in  the 
pipe  form  ;  the  other  existed  in  oblong  round  balls,  contain- 
ing frequently  pure  alumina,  and  sometimes  water,  and  lined 
within  with  scales  of  black  hematite.  The  latter  variety  was 
estimated  to  be  4'  thick,  and  made  excellent  iron."  *  *  * 

Very  little  in  addition  to  the  above  can  be  said,  as  no  reg- 
ular mining  has  been  conducted  here  since  1870. 

At  present  (July  18,  1883)  the  developments  consist  of  a 
rather  circular  hole  100  yards  N.  and  S.  and  125  yards  E. 
and  W.  and  about  35'  deep. 

The  middle  of  the  pit  is  filled  with  water,  mostly  surface 
drainage,  which  circumstance  had  been  recently  utilized  by 
an  Irishman  named  Dolan,  who  contracted  for  his  ore  and 
rigged  up  a  windlass  washer  at  the  bottom  of  the  pit,  haul- 
ing only  his  cleaned  ore  out  of  the  bank. 

The  surface  south-east  of  the  bank  is  very  flat,  an  im- 
mense screening  floor  having  formerly  existed  there,  upon 
which  much  good  wash  ore  still  remains. 

A  clay  cone  shows  near  the  south  entrance  30'  high,  par- 
tially mixed  with  lump  ore. 

In  the  cut  the  ore  shows  from  the  bottom  to  within  two 
feet  of  the  surface. 

Much  of  the  large  lump,  screened  on  the  surface,  was 
taken  to  Hecla  furnace  until  its  abandonment  in  1866. 

The  property  is  evidently  capable  of  much  development 
with  proper  hoisting  machinery  and  suitable  washing  wells. 
As  it  stands  there  is  little  opportunity  for  cheap  mining. 

In  drifting  formerly  from  the  south  side  of  the  hill 
towards  the  cut,  a  band  of  hard  black  ore  was  met  with,  lo- 
cally called  '•  black  band."  This  may  be  Prof.  Rogers' 
"second  variety"  ;  but  the  drift  has  long  since  fallen  in, 
so  that  no  verification  of  this  statement  could  be  made. 

I  should  judge  from  the  excavation  that  there  has  been 
at  least  40,000  tons  of  ore  removed  from  here,  and  yet  the 
property  seems  an  excellent  one  for  a  large  operation  still. 

(21.)  The  Quinn  bank,  located  on  Andrew  Quinn's  land, 
is  but  a  short  distance  east  of  the  McKinney  opening. 


174  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

The  ore  rights  here  are  owned  by  the  Milesburg  Iron 
Works. 

It  is  a  shallow  pit,  15'  deep,  in  same  ore  as  the  McKin- 
ney,  and  about  250  yards  to  the  K  E.  of  it. 

The  ore  seems  rather  leaner  and  more  flinty  than  the 
larger  bank,  but  the  Quinn  bank  has  only  been  worked 
slightly,  and  not  at  all  since  Hecla  furnace  went  out  of 
blast,  at  which  time  the  prospects  are  said  to  have  been  very 
good. 

Without  railroad  communication  it  is  too  expensive  to 
work  and  haul  the  ore  to  Milesburg,  though  the  bank  is 
favorably  situated  for  cheap  mining. 

The  cleaned  ore  shows  from  45-48  per  cent,  iron  in  fur- 
nace working.  Excellent  natural  facilities  for  a  mud  dam 
exist  here,  though  formerly  the  ore  was  all  taken  to  Hecla 
before  washing. 

The  hill  is  grooved  here  by  a  trench  running  up  between 
the  mine  and  Kreps'  house. 

(22.)  Red  bank.  A  small  pit  on  the  same  ore  has  been 
opened  further  east  on  the  property  of  Dr.  Rotherick. 

The  bank  is  small  and  has  not  been  worked  for  years. 
The  excavation  has  been  about  675  cubic  yards.  No  name 
is  known  for 'this  bank,  but  years  ago  when  mined  for 
Hecla  it  was  known  as  the  Red  bank,  on  account  of  the  color 
of  its  ore  and  the  soil  arising  from  its  decomposition. 

The  pit,  though  small,  has  excellent  indications  of  a 
large  body  of  ore.  A  clean  face  of  compact  hematite 
shows  on  the  east  side  10'  thick  without  any  cover  at  all. 
This  bank  is  worthy  of  development.  It  is  about  150  yards 
north  of  the 

(23.)  Hecla  Bank  (Milesburg  Iron  Works),  situated  about 
If  miles  west  from  Hublersburg.  This  is  an  old  opening  and 
in  the  time  of  the  first  survey,  it  received  the  following  de- 
scription. See  Vol.  I,  p,  499. 

"Mt.  Hecla  bank,  2  miles  N.  E.  of  Hecla  furnace,  has 
in  1838,  supplied  two  furnaces  for  12  years  and  was  when 
seen  200  feet  long  and  40  feet  deep.  Drifts  had  been  run 
on  pipe  ore  veins  2'  to  5'  thick.  The  mass  of  ore  consists 


HUBLERSBURG  VALLEY  GROUP.        T4.  175 

of  detached  lumps  and  pebbles  of  black  oxide  of  iron,  im- 
bedded in  ferruginous  loam.  Small  beds  of  red  oxide  of  iron 
occurred  and  also  an  argillaceous  oxide,  brown  and  yellow, 
in  alternate  layers,  like  some  varieties  of  stalagmite.  Masses 
of  black  clay  colored  with  vegetable  matter  were  to  be  seen 
with  the  white  clay." 

Much  of  what  Prof.  Rogers  says  of  the  ores  and  clay  in 
the  above  paragraph  can  still  be  verified,  and  the  bank  as 
a  whole  is  one  of  the  best  places  in  the  county  to  study  the 
varying  character  of  these  valley  hematites. 

The  bank  is  the  property  of  McCoy  and  Linn,  who 
purchased  it  with  the  Hecla  furnace  property.  The  devel- 
opments now  extend  over  about  3  acres  of  ground,  parts  of 
which  are  worked  to  considerable  depths. 

The  original  workings  are  hidden  by  the  present  mud 
dam.  A  shaft  had  formerly  been  put  down  there  for  120 
feet  from  which  drifts  were  run  east  and  west  to  mine  the 
ore.  It  was  the  caving  in  of  the  workings  around  this 
shaft,  burying  three  men,  that  led  to  the  abandonment  of 
underground  mining,  and  the  utilization  of  the  large  cavity 
made  there  for  the  present  settling  dam.  It  is  nevertheless  . 
unfortunately  located  and  must  cover  up  a  valuable  body 
of  ore. 

The  excavation  now  being  worked,  is  an  irregular  area  300 
x  300  x  10  =  900,000  cu.  yds.,  though  many  parts  of  the  pit 
are  worked  to  fully  50  feet. 

But  even  at  the  above  estimate,  with  the  washers  showing 
a  record  of  1 :  3  or  1 :  4  the  past  production  of  this  one  part 
of  the  mine  must  have  been  considerable.  And  yet  the 
mine  shows  equally  well  for  future  development.  All  the 
rocks  exposed  in  the  mine  dip  S.  E.  at  angles  of  30°-40°,  and 
the  usual  arrangement  of  non-ferriferous  limestone  layers 
enclosing  decomposed  argillaceous  ferruginous  deposits  of 
of  pipe  and  shelly  ore  are  repeatedly  exhibited  in  tlie  bank. 

The  north  side  seems  pretty  well  exhausted  of  cheap  ore. 
No  other  system  of  mining  has  been  pursued  within  recent 
years  than  to  follow  the  streaks  and  seams  of  pipe  ore 
without  removing  the  lean  clays  and  decomposed  limestone 
rocks,  though  it  is  highly  probable  that  a  mining  and  wash- 


176  T4.     EErOET  OF  PEOGKESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVlLLIEES. 

ing  of  the  whole  material  would  show  profitable  results  and 
secure,  with  good  machinery,  a  large  output  of  ore. 

The  more  recent  developments  lie  to  the  west  and  south- 
west of  the  washer,  consisting  of  a  narrow  cut  60  x  90  feet 
on  top  and  50'  deep. 

An  incline  plane  was  put  down  here,  and  the  ore  raised 
by  horse  windlass.  But  the  plane  is  entirely  on  ore,  and 
much  valuable  territory  is  again  temporarily  untouched. 

Excellent  pipe  ore  was  being  raised  from  here  on  July 
18,  1883,  occurring  underneath  and  behind  the  rotten  lime- 
stones that  put  out  from  the  south  face  of  the  hole.  Min- 
ing is  carried  on  between  the  limestone  beds,  sometimes  en- 
closing ore  material  just  thick  enough  to  allow  of  the  pass- 
age of  a  man's  body,  and  again  thickening  to  5  and  6  feet, 
but  always  confined  to  these  walls  of  rotten  limestone,  and 
co-extensive  with  them,  at  least,  as  far  as  the  depth  of  the 
mine  will  permit  one  to  judge. 

Further  west  on  the  same  line,  but  divided  from  the  east 

cut  by  a  few  yards  of  territory,  there  is  a  40'  pit  of  a  similar 

character.    It  shows  a  cover  of  about  10'  of  ferruginous  clay, 

•  under  which  30'  of  broken  pipe  ore  is  exposed  down  to  the 

bottom. 

Some  little  work  had  recently  been  done  in  the  old  or 
north  side  of  the  workings,  where  in  a  cut  150  x  50  x  10 
about  55,000  cubic  yards  of  ore  material  had  been  exca- 
vated. The  ore  from  this  part  of  the  mine  was  similar  to 
the  brown,  liver  colored  hematite  of  the  Sand  ridge.  The 
dividing  line  of  the  two  varieties  is  at  about  200  feet  north 
of  the  works. 

From  this  place  a  drift  was  run  north  toward  Sand  ridge 
with  good  results. 

Each  side  of  this  large  bank  has  its  distinctive  features. 

The  pipe  ores  on  the  south  are  allied  to  limestone  and  ac- 
companied by  a  ferruginous  yellow  clay  ;  the  harder  hema- 
tites on  the  north  are  associated  with  more  sandy  layers 
and  their  clay  is  white  and  usually  barren. 

Over  the  pipe  ores  there  often  occurs  a  shelly  ore,  show- 
ing thin  plates  in  seams  of  limestone,  rich  in  iron,  but  diffi- 


HUBLERSBUEG  VALLEY  GROUP.        T4.  177 

cult  to  wash  owing  to  its  tendency  to  float  off  with  the  mud 
and  water. 

The  outcrop  of  this  bank  can  be  traced  west  through  sev- 
eral fields,  good  in  bulk,  though  slightly  more  flinty  on  the 
surface  than  in  the  open  bank. 

The  bank  has  been  worked  continuously  for  50  or  60 
years,  and  even  since  Hecla  furnace  was  dismantled  Messrs. 
McCoy  &  Linn  have  found  it  profitable  to  haul  this  ore  from 
8  to  10  miles  to  Milesburg,  where  in  their  cold  blast  charcoal 
furnace  it  seems  excellently  adapted  for  neutral  boiler  plate 
iron. 

The  washers  seem  to  show  less  flint  to  be  separated  from 
this  ore  than  any  other  of  McCoy's  operations  in  the  valley,  so 
that  the  large  percentage  of  insoluble  matter,  18.620  per  cent, 
noted  in  Mr.  McCreatlfs  analysis,  is  hard  to  account  for. 

The  sample  was  taken  by  Mr.  McCreath  in  September, 
1881,  and  dried  at  212°  P. 

Sesquioxideof  iron,       . 66.071 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese, 962 

Alumina, 1.054 

Lime,        550 

Magnesia, 648 

Sulphuric  acid, 100 

Phosphoric  acid, 284 

Water,  11.804 

Insoluble  matter, 18.620 

Total,     .  .    100  093 


Iron,      46.250 

Manganese, 670 

Sulphur,          040 

Phosphorous,         ...  .124 

Phosphorous  in  100  [>f  is  iron,      268 

Plant.  There  is  one  well  on  the  property  186'  deep,  50' 
column  of  water.  The  boring  passed  through  31  feet  be- 
fore striking  rock  ;  then  limestone  60'  and  ore  30',  and  fin- 
ally limestone  to  bottom.  The  well  gives  70  gallons  per 
minute.  One  forty  horse-power  engine  is  used  for  pump- 
ing and  washing.  Cylinder  12"  diameter,  2'  stroke.  One 
double  shaft  washer  22'  long,  with  the  delivery  shaft  raised 
six  inches.  The  washer  cleans  about  twenty  tons  a  day. 
12  T. 


178  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

One  18'  tubular  boiler  supplies  steam. 

24.  Howard  bank  (Howard  Furnace  Company)  lies  about 
|  mile  N".  E.  of  Hecla,  and  on  slightly  higher  ground.  It  be- 
longs to  the  same  horizon,  however.  It  is  a  very  old  open- 
ing, and  though  idle  when  visited  (July  18,  1883,)  its 
record  has  been  a  rather  active  one. 

It  shows  a  deep  oval  pit,  about  1800'  in  circumference  and 
600'  in  diameter,  the  greatest  depth  being  about  100'. 
There  has  probably  been  600,000  to  800,000  cubic  yards  of 
material  removed  from  this  deep  pit.  No  work  having 
been  done  since  the  spring  of  1833,  the  bank  did  not  look 
very  well,  being  washed  considerably. 

The  south  side  showed  most  rock  and  clay  and  the  east 
most  ore,  a  good  30'  face  of  pipe  ore  being  uncovered 
there.  No.  II  shows  in  south  face  dipping  S.  E.  32°. 

The  ore  was  brought  up  by  an  incline  plane  to  a  washer, 
turning  out  25  to  40  tons  a  day.  The  pit  water  was 
pumped  by  a  f -inch  iron  pipe. 

There  is  a  drift  in  the  N.  E.  face  at  bottom  of  pit,  which 
runs  a  considerable  distance  N.  E.,  and  extends  thence  by 
cross  gangways  east  and  west.  Mule  cars  were  run  into 
these  drifts.  A  fine  deposit  of  pipe  -ore  was  said  to  exist 
there  when  mining  was  stopped. 

Some  drifting  was  also  done  through  the  clay  and  rock 
on  south  side,  for  what  purpose  I  cannot  say,  as  the  indi- 
cations are  anything  but  favorable  in  that  direction.  A 
sample  of  20  pounds  of  this  ore  was  analyzed  by  Mr.  Mc- 
Creath  with  the  following  results  : 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,  75.821 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese, 258 

Alumina,        850 

Lime,        500 

Magnesia, 724 

Sulphuric  acid, 077 

Phosphoric  acid, 329 

Water, 12.340 

Insoluble  matter, 9.330 

Total, .    100.229 


HUBLERSBURG  VALLEY  GROUP.        T4.  179 

Metallic  iron, 53.075 

Metallic  manganese,       180 

Sulphur,  031 

Phosphorous,  144 

Phosphorous  in  100  parts  iron,      271 

This  shows  an  excellent  quality  of  ore,  which  is  likewise 
highly  spoken  of  by  the  proprietors  of  the  Howard  fur- 
nace, who  have  taken  most  of  the  product  of  this  bank. 

No  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  hard  hematites  of 
Sandy  ridge,  spoken  of  in  connection  with  mines  further 
west,  could  be  detected  here,  and  they  have  probably  dis- 
appeared by  reason  of  the  subsidence  eastward  of  the 
axis  which  elevated  them  to  daylight  as  far  east  as  the 
Heel  a  bank. 

East  from  that  point  to  the  Clinton  county  line  there  seems 
to  be  but  one  persistent  range  of  ores — all  of  them  pipe  ores 
of  good  quality — and  all  apparently  referable  to  the  Nigh 
bank  horizon,  about  2500'  below  the  slates  of  III.  No  ore 
has  been  found  higher  in  No.  II  at  this  end  of  the  valley 
as  a  glance  at  the  map  will  indicate. 

25.  Voneda  Bank.  For  a  little  over  a  mile  east  from  the 
.Howard  .bank  no  developments  have  been  made,  until  just 
X.  of  Hublersburg  the  Voneda  bank  on  D.  Voneda' s  farm 
merits  attention. 

It  was  idle  when  visited  Aug.  2,  1883,  no  work  having 
been  done  since  the  last  lessees,  Uurtin  Bros.,  abandoned 
the  mine  about  two  years  ago. 

The  ore  lies  in  a  shallow  ravine  south  of  the  Sand  ridge 
and  north  of  a  low  limestone  hill. 

There  are  two  openings  in  the  same  draft,  the  smaller  one 
being  200'  N.  W.  of  the  main  one. 

The  excavation  of  the  small  pit  has  been  about  15  x  15  x 
8  =  675  cubic  yards. 

The  first  work  done  here  was  by  the  owner,  Voneda,  who 
put  down  a  shaft  80'  deep,  passing  through  outcropping 
pipe  ore  10'  thick  in  sitfa  The  dip  was  very  slight,  and  the 
same  bed  is  worked  in  the  south  cur  lower  down. 

Cnrtin  Bros,  commenced  working  here  about  eight  years 
ago,  leasing  at  80  cents  per  ton  for  the  first  2000  tons. 


180  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

They  washed  the  ore  in  a  single-shaft  horse  washer  with 
water  brought  from  a  Sand  ridge  stream. 

The  surface  looks  lean  and  sandy,  though  some  good  ore 
evidently  remains  beneath. 

No.  2  opening  to  the  south  is  very  irregular  in  shape  and 
depth  and  has  been  robbed  of  most  of  its  cheap  ore.  The 
excavation  shows  about  2000  cubic  yards. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  surface  wash  here,  especially  along 
the  north  face,  which  shows  fully  12  feet  of  stony  and  sandy 
top  soil.  In  places  this  grades  downwards  into  larger  bodies 
of  clay  extending  to  the  bottom  of  the  bank. 

The  quality  of  the  washed  ore  is  excellent,  but  the  wash- 
ing must  have  been  very  expensive. 

The  best  show  is  in  the  N.  E.  corner  of  the  south  pit 
though  still  better  prospects  exist  along  cove  N.  W.  on  to 
the  adjoining  farm. 

On  the  next  farm  east,  (Miller's),  though  apparently  a 
little  further  to  the  south  of  this  horizon,  some  400  tons  of 
crop  wash  of  excellent  lump  pipe  ore  were  removed  to  Wash- 
ington furnace  by  two  men  working  only  thirteen  days. 

The  Voneda  farm  ore,  analyzed  by  Mr.  McCreath,  is  as 
follows :  Sample  20  fcs.  wash  ore  from  pile  at  washer. 
Dried  at  212°  F. 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,       75.214 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese, 308 

Alumina, 989 

Lime, 290 

Magnesia,       .655 

Sulphuric  acid, .087 

Phosphoric  acid, 339 

Water,  11.844 

Insoluble  residue, 10.330 

Total, 100.056 

Iron,     52.650 

Manganese, 215 

Sulphur,         . .035 

Phosphorus,       148 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron, 281 

26.  Scliwartz  bank.  In  a  direct  continuation  eastward  of 
the  Voneda-Miller  deposit  of  pipe  ore,  some  work  was  done 
on  the  two  farms  of  J.  and  L.  Schwartz,  no  tests  having 
been  made  on  the  intervening  Bartholomew  estate. 


HUBLERSBURG  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.   181 

The  outcrop  shows  on  both  sides  of  Schwartz's  lane,  100 
yards  north  of  the  valley  road  and  about  1  mile  east  of 
Hublersbnrg. 

Both  holes  are  covered  up  now.  The  surface  soil  is 
sandy  and  covers  the  real  limestone  floor  to  a  depth  of  8-10 
feet.  The  ore  was  followed  for  40'  on  a  south-east  slope  of 
36°.  The  crop  was  onhT  8  inches  thick,  widening  to  2£  feet 
when  work  stopped  on  account  of  water. 

The  ore  is  of  excellent  quality  and  was  readily  mined, 
occurring  in  well-preserved  pipes. 

27.  Candy  farm.     East  from  Schwartz's,  the  Candy  farm 
was  slightly  prospected  by  the  Gordon's  of  Belief onte,  but 
nothing  much  developed. 

28.  H.  Beck  farm.     Further  east  near  Snydertown  the 
Henry  Beck  farm  shows  several  old  pits. 

Work  was  done  here  60  years  ago.  The  surface  ore  was 
first  found  in  a  draft  about  200  yards  north  of  road  and  af- 
terwards a  slope  was  put  down  60'  on  a  4'  bed  of  pipe  ore 
dipping  S.  E.  about  35°. 

Water  was  struck  at  that  point,  and  having  no  means 
then  of  eliminating  it,  the  slope  was  abandoned. 

Some  ore  was  also  raised  from  a  shaft  put  down  a  little 
south  of  the  crop,  evidently  obtained  from  the  same  bed. 

All  this  early  ore  was  taken  to  Hecla.  The  last  mining 
here  was  carried  on  in  the  interest  of  Wharton  Morris  of 
Mill  Hall. 

29.  Huston  bank  No.  7,  on  the  same  range  and  about 
1  mile  east  of  Beck's,  is  the  next  opening  along  the  south 
base  of  the  flattening  Sand  ridge. 

It  is  on  the  property  of  the  Huston  heirs  and  was  first 
opened  by  Judge  Divens  in  1863  for  Hecla  furnace  and  after- 
wards carried  on  for  Milesburg  Iron  Works.  It  is  1  mile 
east  of  Snydertown. 

A  shaft  was  put  down  about  about  60'  south  of  the  open 
cut  at  crop,  through  which  both  ore  and  water  were  raised. 
The  bed  frequently  reached  15'  in  thickness  as  reported  by 
Mr.  Divens,  and  dipped  30°  S.  E. 


182  T4.      KEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

Limestone  crops  on  private  land  leading  into  the  bank 
with  the  same  dip. 

The  ore  was  followed  for  120'-150'  on  this  slope,  and 
about  2,000  tons  were  raised  here  before  operations  were 
stopped  by  water.  The  last  mining  was  done  here  about  6 
years  ago,  when  the  crop  was  cleaned  out  in  the  open  pit 
20x20x4,  or  1600  cubic  yards,  washing  1:3  and  giving 
about  1000  tons  of  clean  ore.  The  contour  of  the  country 
is  very  flat,  rising  slowly  towards  Sand  ridge  £  mile 
north. 

East  from  this  bank  some  shafting  was  done  on  Rodg- 
ers  farm  and  some  little  ore  taken  out — insignificant  in 
amount,  but  important  as  proving  the  continuation  of  the 
deposit  eastward. 

30.  The  Suavely  bank,  on  property  of  Henry  Snavely, 
is  about  500  yards  north  from  valley  road  and  f  miles  north 
of  Nittany  P.  O. 

This  mine  was  first  worked  50-60  years  ago  for  Washing- 
ton furnace.  The  last  prospecting  was  done  ten  years  ago 
by  Scran  ton  parties,  who  reported  the  bed  worked  out  to  a 
depth  of  60'  on  a  30°  S.  E.  slope,  and  a  thickness  of  7'  to  the 
bed  in  water  at  that  point.  The  ore  was  raised  by  horse- 
power, winding  the  rope  around  a  large  drum. 

The  appearance  of  some  ore  on  the  dump  was  excellent 
and  it  is  claimed  to  show  50  per  cent  of  iron  in  furnace  work- 
ing. However  that  may  be,  the  slope  is  well  timbered  and  in 
good  condition  yet ;  advantages  in  the  way  of  a  good  set- 
tling dam  exist  naturally,  so  that  it  would  seem  a  very 
desirable  locality  for  mining  in  this  section  of  the  county, 
with  railroad  facilities  secured.  A  small  15  or  20  horse- 
power engine  would  suffice  \\,  keep  the  mine  dry,  and  as  the 
mouth  of  the  slope  is  only  about  50  feet  above  Fishing 
creek,  there  could  be  a  constant  supply  of  wash  water 
pumped  up  to  washer. 

31.  Barlow  and  Day's  Mine  is  situated  in  the  next  ad- 
joining field   east  and   only  about  500'  from  the  Snavely 
slope.     It  was  originally  opened  by  Henderson  &  Co.,  of 
Baltimore,  and  from  the  appearance  of  things  work  has  been 
abandoned  for  some  time. 


HUBLERSBURG  VALLEY  GROUP.        T4.  183 

It  was  also  worked  for  Washington  furnace. 

The  property  is  only  about  500'  wide  E.  and  W.,  and 
seems  to  have  been  entirely  robbed  of  its  surface  crop. 

The  dip  is  very  slight  here,  averaging  only  20°  S.  E. 

There  are  three  separate  pits  on  the  property  divided  from 
each  other  by  bunches  of  non-ferruginous  S.  E.  dipping 
limestone,  which  also  shows  in  the  pits. 

Two  of  the  pits  show  about  35  x  25  x  7  =  6000  cubic  yards 
of  excavation.  The  other  is  small  10x6x3=180  cubic  yards. 

There  is  an  old  engine-house  on  property  from  which  in- 
clines extend  N.  N.  W.  into  the  two  large  pits.  A  single 
28'  washer  is  also  in  the  plant, 

The  engine-house  is  about  40'  south  of  the  pit  and  just 
south  of  it  a  well  was  sunk  by  John  Fallon,  of  Phila.  (who 
had  leased  the  property  from  its  New  York  owners).  The 
well  was  carried  down  50'-60',  but  the  pump  was  not  pow- 
erful enough  to  keep  the  well  dry. 

Some  8,000  to  10,000  tons  of  ore  were  mined  here  by 
various  parties,  an  analysis  of  which  will  be  found  below. 
Future  ore  is  to  be  sought  for  south  of  the  pit. 

The  barometric  elevation  of  the  bank  is  322'  above  Howard 
or  1000'  A.  T.,  and  72'  above  Little  Fishing  creek,  which 
runs  along  the  base  of  the  limestone  ridge  holding  these 
ores. 

Sample.  110  pieces  of  ore  lying  around  bank,  analysed 
by  Mr.  McCreath.  Dried  at  212°  F. 

Sesquioxide  of  iron 7R071 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese, .423 

Alumina, 538 

Lime,       660 

Magnesia, 635 

Sulphuric  acid, 080 

Phosphoric  acid, .222 

Water,  12.206 

Insoluble  matter, 7.520 

Total, 100.355 

Iron 54-650 

Manganese, .295 

Sulphur, 032 

Phosphorus,      O97 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron, 177 


184  T*.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

32.  Huston  bank,  No.  2,  is  the  last  and  most  eastern 
opening  on  this  range,  and  is  situated  close  to  the  Clinton 
county  line. 

It  is  on  land  of  Thomas  Huston  heirs,  and  adjoins  the  Bar- 
low and  Day  property  on  the  east. 

The  crop  has  been  removed  for  a  length  of  300'  E.  and  W. ; 
30'  wide  N.  and  S.,  and  12'  deep,  or  100  x  10  x  4  =  4000  cu. 
yds. 

The  mine  has  been  idle  for  some  time.  Judge  Divens 
sank  a  shaft  30  years  ago  90'  deep  to  a  bed  of  pipe  ore  8' 
thick  and  about  60'  south  of  the  open  cut. 

The  ore  was  washed  in  Fishing  creek,  being  hauled  down 
a  draft  east  of  the  mine,  which  cuts  down  the  hills  50'.  By 
barometer  the  mine  is  about  987'  A.  T. 

The  description  of  this  mine  concludes  the  line  of  ore  de- 
posits south  of  "  Sand  ridge"  to  the  Clinton  county  line  ; 
and  while  it  has  not  been  possible  to  give  much  detailed  in- 
formation of  the  various  openings,  owing  to  the  general 
stagnation  of  mining  during  the  season  of  1883  and  the  deep 
covering  of  wash  that  overlies  the  deposit,  still  enough  was 
seen  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  the  pipe  ore  deposits  at 
least  seem  to  occur  in  regularly  interstratified  beds  between 
parallel  walls  of  limestone.  They  vary  in  width  both  in 
the  line  of  strike  and  dip,  and  frequently  pinch  out  alto- 
gether; yet  they  are  opened  in  a  sufficient  number  of  places 
to  almost  assert  the  continuity  of  the  range  from  the  Hecla 
bank  to  the  Clinton  county  line. 

Almost  every  farm  in  that  distance  shows  more  or  less  fa- 
vorable indications  of  ore,  which  would,  no  doubt,  be  more 
noticeable  if  not  covered  up  with  an  abundance  of  sand  de- 
tritus from  the  ridge  on  the  north.  Erosion  has  removed 
much  of  the  surface  deposit,  so  that  no  extensive  basin  of 
wash  ore  characterizes  this  range  along  the  Fishing  creek 
valley  as  they  do  further  west  in  Spring  township. 

But  the  existence  of  the  bed  in  situ  has  been  proved  in 
many  places  by  slopes  on  the  ore  and  the  possibility  of 
reaching  it  by  shafts  sunk  through  overlying  non-ferrifer- 
ous limestone  layers  has  likewise  been  effected  in  several  of 
the  mines. 


HUBLKKSBURG  VALLEY  GROUP.         T4.  185 

Unfortunately,  cessation  of  mining  prevented  a  single  per- 
sonal examination  of  the  underground  workings,  but  all  the 
evidence  obtained  on  the  surface  from  the  many  who  had 
worked  in  them  was  reliable,  and  leads  to  the  conviction 
that  the  pipes,  while  confined  to  a  regular  bed,  do  not  con- 
form to  parallelism  with  the  adjacent  limestone  walls,  but 
stand  rather  at  an  angle  to  the  roof  and  floor  in  stalactite 
and  stalagmite  form,  or  as  thin  shells  or  plates  in  decom- 
posed clays. 

No  occurrence  of  undecomposed  pipes  of  sulphuret  of 
iron  has  been  noticed  in  this  part  of  the  valley  such  as 
would  give  some  weight  to  the  theory  of  the  formation  of 
this  ore ;  but  further  on  in  the  description  of  the  Sinking 
creek  mine  of  the  Penn's  Valley  Mining  Company  that 
fact  can  be  positively  asserted. 

The  presence  or  absence  of  the  distinctively  heavy  hema- 
tite ores  of  the  "Barrens,"  which  are  so  largely  mined  in 
the  western  part  of  the  county,  can  not  be  asserted  now  for 
want  of  sufficient  testing ;  but  it  is  a  matter  of  doubt 
whether  the  vertical  elevation  of  the  anticlinal  axis  has 
been  sufficiently  great  here  to  elevate  the  horizon  of  these 
ores  to  daylight  east  of  Hecla ;  for  from  that  point  into 
Clinton  county  the  anticlinal  is  certainly  dying  rapidly  and 
gradually  covering  its  crest  with  higher  layers  of  limestone. 
In  any  event  it  is  problematical  whether  the  lowest  western 
ores — those  of  Scotia  and  Juniata — are  brought  to  the  sur- 
face at  all.  The  character  of  the  hematites  found  in  the 
Field,  Quinn,  and  McKinney  banks,  etc.,  allies  them  closely 
in  appearance  to  the  Pond,  Lambourn,  and  Desert  banks 
in  the  western  part  of  the  county. 

Little  Fishing  creek  offers  a  natural  outlet  to  Clinton 
county,  and  a  railroad  located  along  its  valley  would  be 
within  easy  reach  of  this  range  of  50  per  cent.  ores. 

Nittany  valley,  on  the  south  side  of  Sand  Ridge,  from 
Hublersburg  east,  is  very  smooth,  showing  gradual  slopes 
to  the  creek,  and  rising  gently  to  the  mountains  on  the 
south. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Brown  hematite  ores  of  No.  //,  continued. 
D.  Buffalo  Run  Group. 

Buffalo  run  valley,  for  five  miles  west  of  Bellefonte,  is 
practically  devoid  of  ore  developments. 

The  steep  dips  of  its  rocks  have  everywhere  led  to  a 
rapid  erosion  of  its  surface,  so  that  topographically  it  is  a 
deeply-marked  groove  between  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain 
on  the  north  and  the  high  land  of  the  Nittany  valley  axis 
on  the  south. 

Between  Bellefonte  and  Fillmore,  on  the  Benner-Patton 
line,  the  axis  is  everywhere  from  £-£  miles  south  of  the 
valley  road,  and  whatever  ore  there  is  occurs  between  the 
axis  and  this  road. 

33.  On  theLutz  farm,  two  miles  west  of  Bellefonte,  some 
20  or  30  tons  of  pipe  ore  were  removed  by  a  shaft. 

34.  The  Brocrenhoff,  Blair,  and  Wagner  farms  likewise 
show  surface  croppings,  though  flinty  and  not  very  abundant. 

35.  Fair  surface  wash  ore  was  also  ploughed  through  on 
the  Alexander  and  Reynolds  farms. 

36.  A  trial  shaft  on  Clark's  farm  developed  15  feet  of 
wash  ore,  and  a  series  of  pits  on  the  Farman  farm  showed 
from  10  to  20  feet  of  lump  and  wash  ore. 

But  the  developments  on  all  these  farms  are  meager,  and, 
in  general,  the  erosion  through  this  part  of  the  valley  has 
been  so  great  as  to  leave  a  very  weak  and  flinty  surface  de- 
posit. 

So,  in  driving  along  the  Buffalo  run  road,  the  gutters  fre- 
quently show  the  presence  of  fine  pipe  wash.  But  it  is  all 

(187  T*.) 


188  T.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

apparently    derived   from  the  bed  in  siM  further  south, 
which  was  first  regularly  located  and  tested  in 

37.  Hunter 's  mine,  on  lands  of  JB.  Hunter,  about  1  mile 
east  of  the  little  village  of  Fillmore.  The  bank  is  situated 
a  short  distance  south  of  the  Buffalo  run  road,  in  a  ravine 
leading  up  to  McKnight's  farm. 

On  this  land  a  splendid  exposure  of  No.  II  blue  lime- 
stone is  seen  well  up  the  hillside  on  the  east  side  of  the 
ravine  dipping  N.  12°  W.  22°. 

The  ravine  leads  back  of  the  little  knoll  made  by  this 
limestone  ledge  and  at  its  head  the  mine  is  located.  It  shows 
a  rather  shallow  pit  from  which  the  surface  ore  was  robbed, 
with  the  faces  pretty  well  concealed  with  dirt  and  sand. 

The  ore  occurs  between  limestone  rocks  and  about  50 
tons  of  good  lump  ore  remained  on  the  dump  when  visited 
on  August  1st,  1883.  This  was  taken  from  a  new  shaft  sunk 
by  Mr.  Hunter  in  1881  from  the  bottom  of  the  open  pit  40'^ 
deep.  The  ore  is  very  clean  and  occurs  in  large  pipes  and 
is  readily  remove'd. 

Water  was  encountered  at  about  40'-50'  and  stopped  fur- 
ther mining.  The  completion  of  the  B.  &  B.  R.  R.  R. 
will  no  doubt  lead  to  further  developments  here,  and  from 
the  description  I  have  received  I  have  no  doubt  that  the 
mine  will  prove  of  value  to  the  owners  and  to  the  student 
wishing  to  study  the  nature  of  these  deposits. 

An  analysis  of  a  single  piece  sent  to  Mr.  A.  S.  McCreath 
by  Mr.  Hunter  yielded  as  follows  : — 

Sesquioxide  of  iron, 78.571 

"  "  manganese, 014 

Alumina, 1.206 

Lime,  620 

Magnesia, 547 

Sulphuric  acid, .070 

Phosphoric  acid, 357 

Water,         11.156 

Insoluble  matter, 7.650 


Total, 100.191 


Metallic  iron, 55.000 

"        manganese, .010 

Sulphur, 028 

Phosphorus,       156 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron, .283 


BUFFALO  RUN  GROUP.  T4.  189 

38.  Pipe  ore  of   this  range  is  next  seen  in  the  Patton- 
Benner  township  line  road,  just  south  of  the  M.  E.  Church 

'at  Filluiore,  where  it  has  been  uncovered  in  the  road  cut  in 
limestone  dipping  X.  W.  15°-20°. 

In  Patton  township  along  Buffalo  run  road,  about  £  miles 
west  of  Fillmore,  is  a  good  exposure  of-  thin  bedded  lime- 
stone at  J.  Tressler's  house,  dipping  N.  35°  W.  20°-22°. 

Blue  crystalline  limestone  is  again  twice  exposed  in  rail- 
road cuts  in  the  valley  north,  dipping  N.  28°  W.  25°,  in  a 
low  hill  which  marks  the  position  of  an  encouraging  wash 
deposit  of  heavy  hematite  through  the  farms  of  Kephart, 
B rock erh off,  Sellers,  Green,  Hale,  Gray,  and  Waddle,  to  the 
railroad  cut  on  Jacob  Behrer's  farm  where  an  extensive  de- 
posit of  lump  ore  in  a  ferruginous  white  clay  is  exposed. 

39.  Crust  bank,  on  the  Musser  farm  of  McCoy  and  Linn, 
is  a  pipe  ore  deposit  on  same  range  as  the  Hunter  bank.     It 
is  about  £  miles  S.  W.  of  Fillmore,  and  on  north  side  of 
main  Nittany  axis,  which  is  well  exposed  on  the  ridge  south 
of  the  bank,  throwing  off  gentle  6°  dips  N.  W.  and  S.  E., 
and  rising  thence  westward  to  bring  up  the  sand  measures 
in  Chestnut  or  Buck  ridge. 

Some  of  the  oldest  work  in  the  county  was  done  here, 
though  all  the  deep  shafts  have  long  since  been  tilled  up. 

There  is  an  open  pit  here  bearing  trees  in  the  bottom  of 
20  years'  growth.  The  cut  is  about  150'  long,  E.  and  W., 
50'  wide,  and  at  present  (July  27,  1883)  20'  deep,  and  has 
furnished  about  5000  cubic  yards  of  material. 

Limestone  shows  in  the  north  face  dipping  about  10°  X. 
W.,  and  considerable  underground  mining  has  apparently 
been  done  here. 

40.  On  four  farms  here — Crust,  Musser,  Reaser,  and  Pen- 
ningtoii — the  ore  rights  of  which  belong  to  the  Milesburg 
Iron  Works,  as  far  west  as  the  Thompson  property  line,  Mr. 
Frank  McCoy  states   that  fully  300  shafts  have  been  put 
down  from  3  to  26  feet  deep,  in  all  of  which  more  or  less 
ore  was  found.     All  these  trial  pits  were  in  limestone. 

The  ki  Barrens"  of  Chestnut  ridge,  after  flattening  with 
the  anticlinal  2  miles  west,  near  the  Pond  bank,  die  into  a 


100  T*.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  I/INVILLIEUS. 

rolling  county  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Markle  bank,  an 
opening  on  the  south  side  of  the  anticlinal  a  short  distance 
west  of  the  Crust  bank. 

The  country  here  is  considerably  broken  up  into  coves 
and  small  rolling  hills. 

The  cove  south- of  the  Pond  bank  can  be  traced  east 
through  the  four  Thompson  farms — Fair,  Zones,  Alto,  and 
Crust — until,  on  reaching  the  Pennington  farm,  this  main 
cove  is  sub-divided  into  a  series  of  small  ravines  and  hills. 

The  most  marked  of  these  ravines  extends  down  a  private 
lane  to  Gray's  house  on  Buffalo  run  road,  and  holds  a 
heavy  hematite  wash  from  the  Markle  bank. 

The  whole  character  of  the  ore  changes  in  going  west 
from  here,  just  as  it  did  in  the  eastern  end  of  the  county. 

The  straw-colored  pipe  ores  of  the  Hunter,  Crust,  and 
Markle  banks  give  place  to  the  heavy  liver-colored  hematites 
of  the  "  Barrens,"  and  this  change  has  been  brought  about 
similarly  in  both  places,  viz :  By  the  rising  of  the  anticlinal 
axis,  lifting  older  and  lower  rocks  to  the  surface  with  their 
characteristic  ores,  from  off  the  surface  of  which  the  higher 
limestone  rocks  with  their  pipe  ores  have  been  eroded. 
Hence,  though  we  find  the  pipe  ores  of  the  Hunter,  Crust, 
and  Markle  banks  in  the  same  geographical  range  or  line 
as  the  heavy  hematites  of  the  Pond,  Lambourn,  and  New- 
all  mines,  the  geological  horizon  of  the  latter  is  considera- 
bly lower  than  that  of  the  former  by  reason  of  the  rise  of 
the  axis  in  that  direction.  On  no  other  structural  ground 
can  I  account  for  the  difference  of  these  ores,  separated  by 
about  two  miles  of  territory. 

The  change,  however,  seems  to  be  a  gradual  one,  for  as 
the  sandy  soil  of  the  barrens  becomes  more  and  more  calca- 
reous, the  ores  become  more  shelly  and  open,  until  becom- 
ing true  pipe  ores  in  the  limestone.  Thus  the  north  range 
of  low  hills  on  the  four  farms  under  discussion  carries  quite 
an  extensive  deposit  of  pipe  ore,  varying  from  30'  of  wash 
along  the  center  of  the  basin,  about  midway  between  the 
public  roads,  to  3'  or  4'  on  the  north  and  south,  where  the 
limestone  comes  to  the  surface. 


BUFFALO  RUN  GROUP.  T4.  191 

This  deposit  here  seems  to  he  remarkably  free  from  for- 
eign matter — flint,  spar,  etc.,— and  would  wash  readily, 
yielding  from  45-50  per  cent.  iron. 

The  line  of  the  Bellefonte  and  Buffalo  Run  R.  R.  is  not 
over  £  mile  distant,  which  makes  this  field  one  of  probable 
future  importance. 

On  the  adjoining  property  west,  owned  by  Messrs.  Thomp- 
son, some  little  prospecting  has  also  been  done. 

The  four  farms  included  in  it  are  all  bounded  south  by 
the  public  road. 

41.  On  the  Fair  farm,  200  yards  north  of  road,  two 
holes  within  20  feet  of  each  other  have  been  put  down  re- 
spectively 25  and  50  feet. 

Some  excellent  material  has  been  thrown  out  here. 

Test  pits  were  sunk  50  yards  toN.  W.,  but  the  surface  in 
all  these  farms  was  so  thickly  covered  with  clover  at  the 
time  of  inspection  that  it  was  impossible  to  tell  much 
about  the  character  of  the  deposit.  A  short  distance  north 
of  these  holes  the  ground  seemed  very  flinty.  Beyond 
this  ore  was  claimed,  but  I  saw  no  indications  of  it. 

Mr.  Thompson  claims  to  have  sunk  65  to  70  shafts  through 
these  farms,  which  developed  from  6'  to  50'  of  ore. 

42.  Zones'  farm  to  the  east  has  a  shaft  'SO'  deep,  dupli- 
cated with  smaller  ones,  all  in  wash  and  lump  hematite. 
Water  was  met  with  in  all  of  them. 

The  contour  of  the  country  here  is  very  uneven,  indicat- 
ing sink  holes  and  underground  water  courses. 

The  ore  show  is  slight,  through  about  200  yards  N.  and  S. 

43.  The  Alto  farm  has  not  been   tested  at  all,    but 
wherever  the  ground  was  superficially  broken  in  ploughing, 
the  presence  of  the  same  deposit,  and  of  about  equal  ex- 
tent, was  claimed.     The  surface  is  flinty. 

44.  The  Crust  farm  is  next  east,  about  110  rods  wide,  and 
has  been  tested  in  4  small  pits  besides  the  development  at 
the  Markle  bank.     These  have  been  sunk  across  400'  of  ter- 
ritory with  an  excellent  show  of  ore,  a  fine  dark  red  and 
black  hematite.     Limestone  was  also  struck  in  this  field. 


192  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

45.  The  Marble  bank,  on  this  farm,  lies  south  100'  from 
the  farm  house,  and  on  the  south  side  of  the  anticlinal. 

It  has  been  long  abandoned,  and  was  worked  for  the  old 
Centre  furnace  from  1842-1858. 

The  open  pit  shows  an  excavation  25  x  10  x  7  =  1750  cu. 
yds. 

In  1882  pits  were  sunk,  which  are  said  to  have  proved  the 
ore  territory  600'  N.  and  S.  and  250'  E.  and  W.  and  from  6' 
to  40'  deep. 

The  ore  is  a  fine  grained  hematite  and  apparently  grading 
into  pipe  in  the  next  farm  east. 

It  is  exceedingly  free  from  impurity  and  flinty  matter, 
having  been  carted  to  Centre  furnace,  3  miles,  as  mined, 
requiring  very  little  or  no  washing.  Analyses  of  it  by 
John  Thompson,  Esq.,  are  reported  as  showing  50-55  per 
cent.  iron. 

Natural  advantages  for  a  mud  dam  exist  here,  but  water 
is  scarce  and  would  have  to  be  obtained  by  artesian  wells. 

46.  The  Pond  bank  is  the  first  opening  met  going  west 
and  entering  the  sandy  measures  of   the  barrens.      It  is 
situated  on  the  Pond  or  Gross  farm  of  211  acres,  immedi- 
ately adjoining  the  Fair  farm  on  the  west,  and  located  right 
on  the  arch  of  the  anticlinal,  and  about  1£  miles  west  of  the 
Markle  bank  ;  at  about  1230  A.  T.  by  barometer. 

West  of  it  is  the  large  Iron  Ore  tract  of  nearly  1000  acres, 
which  divides  it  from  the  River  Hill1  tract  of  311  acres, 
upon  which  Messrs.  Carnegie  are  carrying  on  their  large 
operations  at  the  Scotia  mines. 

The  Pond  bank  is 'owned  by  the  Milesburg  Iron  Works, 
and  is  distant  about  ^  mile  from  the  main  line  of  the  B.  and 
B.  R.  R.  R.  at  W.  Reed's,  and  connected  there  by  a  branch 
line  into  the  mines. 

It  has  also  another  outlet  by  road  to  the  railroad  east  of 
Waddle's,  where  all  the  ore  hitherto  mined  at  tlie  bank  has 
been  washed  in  Buffalo  run. 

The  excavations  are  quite  extensive  here  as  work  has  been 
carried  on  more  or  less  constantly  since  the  early  part  of  the 
century  when  the  ore  was  used  by  Gen.  Huston  at  his  old 


BUFFALO  RUN  GROUP.  T4.  193 

Centre  furnace,  and  almost  continuously  by  the  Milesburg 
Iron  Works  since  the  partition  of  the  Centre  and  Hecla  fur- 
nace properties. 

Three  large  open  pits  have  been  worked  to  a  depth  of  50- 
60  feet,  and  in  addition  to  these  several  smaller  ones  have 
been  opened  and  the  property  tested  for  fully  500  yards 
each  way. 

Several  inclines  formerly  existed  here  for  raising  the  ore, 
and  immense  screening  floors  still  cover  very  choice  ground 
to  a  depth  of  4  or  5  feet. 

A  characteristic  feature  of  all  the  hematite  banks  of  the 
"barrens"  is  well  displayed  in  this  bank,  consisting  of  a 
band  or  dyke  of  white  clay  40  feet  wide,  decomposed  from 
a  gray  slaty  limestone,  running  N".  E.  and  S.  W.  through 
the  bank  and  in  which  no  ore  can  be  found. 

It  marks  the  position  of  a  former  non-ferruginous  argil- 
laceous limestone  layer,  on  top  and  beneath  which  the  con- 
centrated iron  salts  have  deposited  their  iron. 

In  many  other  places  in  these  immense  holes,  local  clay 
banks  and  "horses"  of  partially  decomposed  sandy  lime- 
stone rock  come  in  for  a  time  to  cut  off  the  ore ;  but  else- 
where splendid  faces  of  ore  continuing  from  the  surface 
down  to  the  bottom  can  be  seen. 

When  visited  early  in  August,  1883,  but  little  work  had 
been  done  on  account  of  harvest  time. 

The  west  pit  was  filled  with  water  to  within  20  feet  of  the 
surface.  The  north  cut,  150  yards  long,  N.  and  S.,  was  also 
idle  and  pretty  well  washed. 

Much  excellent  lump  ore,  some  of  it  bomb-shell  hollow 
masses,  not  commonly  seen  through  this  valley,  though  so 
marked  an  occurrence  through  the  Great  Valley,  could  be 
seen  in  the  bottom,  though  the  true  surface  of  the  sides  was 
pretty  well  covered  with  washed  sand  and  clay.  It  is  in 
this  cut  that  the  clay  bank  above  referred  to  can  be  best 
seen,  for  it  has  been  left  almost  untouched  throughout  the 
length  of  the  opening. 

All  the  work  being  done  was  carried  on  in  the  south  pit, 
which  had  been  worked  in  benches  irregularly  wherever 
the  best  nnd  most  available  ore  could  be  obtained. 
13  T4. 


194  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Quite  a  pile — probably  200  tons — lay  on  the  dump  ready 
for  shipment  to  Milesburg. 

Much  of  the  rejected  lump  ore  on  the  waste  dump  showed 
a  considerable  percentage  of  feldspathic  material,  strongly 
resembling  the  chalcedonic  quartz  mentioned  in  the  Darrah 
bank,  though  more  opaque. 

While  this  ore,  so  accompanied,  is  capable  of  being  used 
in  a  good  coke  or  anthracite  furnace,  it  cannot  be  worked 
through  a  small  cold-blast  charcoal  furnace,  running  mainly 
for  quality  rather  than  quantity  of  metal. 

The  general  character  of  the  ore  is  a  small  lump  hematite 
resembling  the  Darrah  and  Zimmerman  bank  ores  in  the 
eastern  end  of  the  county,  a  middle  grade  as  it  were  between 
the  extremes  of  coarse  lump  ore  at  Scotia  and  Tow  hill,  and 
the  fine  pipe  ores  of  the  limestone  rocks. 

For  mixture  with  these  soft  pipe  ores,  the  Pond  bank  ore 
is  admirably  adapted,  and  such  has  been  its  special  use  at 
the  Milesburg  Iron  Works. 

Much  of  the  cheap  ore  has  been  mined  from  these  pits  by 
present  methods  of  horse  and  cart  working;  but  there  is 
ample  untouched  surface  for  a  large  output  of  ore  with  bet- 
ter machinery,  and  the  bank  will  no  donbt  rank  high  as  a 
producer  after  the  completion  of  the  railroad.  The  charac- 
ter of  the  deposit  is  irregular  and  it  would  seem  advisable 
to  proceed  to  a  systematic  development  of  the  whole  mass 
rather  than  the  "hogging"  hitherto  pursued. 

The  following  (No.  1)  is  McCreath's  analysis  of  this  ore. 
Sampled  Sept.  1881.  20  fts.  of  ore  dried  at  212°  F 

Sesquioxide  of  iron, 63.143 

"  "  manganese, 392 

Alumina, 2.254 

Lime, 630 

Magnesia, 371 

Sulphuric  acid 057 

Phosphoric  acid, 300 

Water,      11.810 

Insoluble  matter, 20.980 

Total, .      99.937 


Iron 44.200 

Manganese, .273 


BUFFALO  RUJST  GROUP.  T4.  195 

Sulphur, 023 

Phosphorous, 131 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron 296 

Continuing  west  from  Pond  bank  the  B.  &  B.  R.  R.  R., 
in  crossing  the  summit,  cuts  through  quite  an  extensive  de- 
posit of  hematite  ore  and  clay  on  the  same  farm. 

The  cut  commences  just  south-east  of  W.  Reed's  house, 
shown  on  map,  entering  first  on  a  bed  of  disintegrated 
white  sand  8'  thick,  and  shortly  afterwards  passing  through 
a  splendid  showing  of  surface  ore  for  fully  500  feet. 

The  cut  averages  about  10'  deep,  and,  after  cleaving 
some  beautifully  corrugated  and  twisted  beds  of  black  sand, 
clay,  and  ore,  finally  exposes  a  face  of  excellent  wash  hem- 
atite. This  is  on  the  same  horizon  as  Pond  bank,  and 
should  be  an  excellent  place  for  digging  cheap  ore. 

Much  of  the  material  from  the  cut  has  been  used  to  make 
the  fill  north  towards  Reed's  house,  and  the  excavated  ma- 
terial used  in  the  railroad  embankment  shows  much  good 
lump  ore. 

South-east  from  here,  along  railroad,  and  towards  the 
road  leading  into  the  Ackley  bank,  there  is  another  cut  on 
the  Gross  farm  where  the  show  is  not  so  good.  About  the 
same  character  of  surface  is  passed  (through,  but  the  face 
shows  mainly  dark  sand  and  clay,  carrying  ore  streaks  one, 
foot  thick  with  occasional  pockets,  all  covered  with  a 
heavy  wash  of  light  sand.  About  \  mile  west  from  railroad 
at  Reed's  house,  and  higher  up  on  hill  is  the  old 

47.  Newell  bank,  which  is  apparently  on  the  same  range 
geologically  as  the  Pond,  Tar  Hollow,  and  Desert  banks, 
whose  ores  it  closely  resembles. 

The  opening  is  on  land  of  Captain  Hunter.  The  ore 
rights  here  and  on  William  Reed's  farm  to  the  east  (which 
also  shows  excellent  surface  deposits)  are  reserved  by  Mc- 
Coy &  Linn  of  the  Milesburg  Iron  Works. 

The  property  is  a  most  advantageously  located  one  for 
mining  and  shipping  ore. 

The  surface  is  thickly  covered  with  wash  ore,  with  little 
or  no  accompanying  sandstone  rock  all  through  the  Newel] 


196  T4.      REPOKT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

property  and  also  on  to  the  Reed  lands,  though  the  latter 
is  not  so  rich. 

The  width  of  this  deposit  as  traced  by  outcrop  N.  and  S., 
is  about  200  yards,  extending  from  the  cove  at  Newell' s 
house  high  up  the  south  flank  of  the  hill  dividing  this  de- 
posit from  the  Lambourn  bank  on  Buffalo  run  road. 

Ore  was  formerly  mined  here  in  considerable  quantity  for 
the  Julian  furnace  in  Bald  Eagle  valley,  and  a  recent  pit 
put  down  in  the  old  floor  turned  out  excellent  material. 

The  bank  is  about  100'  above  the  railroad.  By  driving 
an  open  cut  west  from  a  point  near  the  property  line  be- 
tween Reed  and  Hunter,  a  60'  face  of  ore  could  be  worked 
at  the  bank,  and  ore  taken  out  with  sufficient  grade  to 
dump  immediately  into  cars  on  the  railroad  from  a  trestle 
above. 

Excellent  natural  features  exist  for  a  mud  dam,  and,  by 
comparison  of  elevations  of  bank  and  creek,  sufficient  water 
could  probably  be  obtained  by  a  well  about  200  feet  deep. 

48.  Lambourn  bank  (Milesburg  Iron  Works)  in  Patton 
township,  about  10£  miles  west  of  Bellefonte,  is  the  next 
bank  of  importance  in  this  group. 

It  is  situated  close  to  the  Buffalo  Run  road,  and  about 
100  yards  south  of  the  railroad  in  valley,  on  land  owned  by 
Moses  Thompson.  It  was  idle  when  visited,  in  July,  1883, 
no  work  having  been  done  there  since  the  previous  fall. 

The  excavation  shows  a  long  and  narrow  cut  along  the 
north  flank  of  the  hill  and  anticlinal,  which  latter  is  ap- 
parently overturned  here,  as  siliceous  limestone  ledges  show 
in  the  south  face,  dipping  S.  E.  42°  mfohill. 

The  cut  is  about  400  yards  N.  E.  and  S.  W.,  and  20  yards 
wide,  and  15  deep,  though  the  bottom  has  been  covered 
with  about  4  feet  of  mud. 

The  sides  also  were  considerably  washed,  so  that  very 
little  could  be  judged  of  the  character  of  the  ore. 

Most  of  the  screenings  from  the  old  workings  have  been 
used  in  grading  the  railroad,  and  but  little  or  no  ore  re- 
mained at  the  dump. 

The  ore  deposit  seems  to  follow  the  trend  of  the  rocks. 


BUFFALO  RUN  GROUP.  T4.  197 

and  the  general  appearance  of  the  bank  resembles  that  of 
the  Darrah  bank  in  Marion  township. 

On  the  south  side  of  cut,  and  near  its  western  extremity, 
Mr.  McCoy  states  that  a  shaft  was  put  down  40'  from  the 
bottom  of  the  pit,  all  in  ore  of  a  pipe  character. 

If  correct,  this  fact  is  of  importance  as  bearing  upon  the 
similar  genesis  of  the  two  varieties. 

In  a  knob  of  soil  left  standing  on  the  north  side  of  the 
cut,  the  original  surface  can  be  seen,  and  shows  fine  ore 
under  a  cover  of  18  inches  of  sand,  and  excellent  lump  ore 
from  4  feet  down  to  bottom. 

Shafts  from  50  to  60  feet  deep  have  been  put  down  in  the 
east  end  of  cut,  and  excellent  lump  ore  taken  out  from 
drifts  run  from  them. 

These  lumps  were  principally  sought  for  in  the  mines, 
owing  to  the  distance  to  the  washer  preventing  the  fine  ore 
being  economically  mined. 

Mr.  McCoy  says  that  in  washing  this  ore  he  found  little 
or  no  flint,  the  refuse  material  being  chiefly  a  rotten  or 
"deaf  limestone,"  though  Mr.  McCreath's  analysis  below 
shows  a  very  large  percentage  of  "insoluble  matter." 

The  surface  show  at  the  Lambourn  bank  extends  north  of 
the  road  into  field  for  about  200  feet  towards  Buffalo  run, 
though  the  creek  basin  itself  shows  no  ore  at  all. 

The  analysis  shows,  in  addition  to  the  unusual  percent- 
age of  "insoluble  matter,"  a  marked  increase  of  manganese 
and  phosphorus  over  other  ores  of  this  region. 

It  was  sampled  in  September,  1881,  115  pieces  dried  at 
212°  F. 

Sesquioxide  of  iron, 57.500 

"         "       "  manganese, 1.36 

Alumina, 1.150 

Lime, 760 

Magnesia,       500 

Sulphuric  »cid 005 

Phosphoric  acid 836 

Water,  10.060 

Insoluble  matter, 28.010 

Total, 100.188 


198  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Metallic  iron, ...      40.250 

u     '«    manganese, .965 

Sulphur 002 

Phosphorus,       365 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron,     .   .   ,      906 

The  extensive  developments  that  have  been  made  here 
and  the  large  use  of  this  ore  warrants  the  belief  that  while 
it  is  decidedly  a  cold-short  ore,  its  iron  percentage  will 
average  larger  than  the  above. 

49.  Gray  Bank. — Going  west  about  1  mile  along  Buffalo 
run  railroad,  the  continuation  of  the  Lambourn  horizon  is 
indicated  in  the  old  Gray  bank,  located  like  the  Lambourn 
along  the  north  base  of  the  same  siliceous  limestone  hill  and 
rather  north  of  the  "Barrens"  proper. 

The  pit  shows  about  20'  deep  writh  a  good  covering  of  top 
clay.  No  work  has  been  done  there  for  40  years,  though 
the  record  of  a  60'  shaft  shows  clay  for  8'  and  then  mixed 
clay,  wash  and  lump  ore  for  about  40',  and  finally  lime- 
stone. Westward  this  horizon  develops  the  Desert,  and 
Hard  banks. 

50.  Tar  Hollow  Sank. — On  south  side  of  this  hill,  about  ^ 
mile  south  of  the  Gray  bank  is  the  Tar  Hollow  ba?ik<  prob- 
ably geologically  related  to  the  Newell  and  Pond  horizon. 

The  absence  of  any  reliable  dips  through  this  generally 
sandy  district  makes  it  difficult  to  locate  the  anticlinal  defi- 
nitely. But  if  I  am  right  in  supposing  it  to  pass  close  to 
the  Pond  bank,  the  banks  last  mentioned  lie  considerably 
lower  in  the  No.  II  limestone  formation  than  those  along 
the  Buffalo  run  road. 

The  Tar  Hollow  bank  is  on  land  of  S.  T.  Gray,  who  in- 
formed me  that  no  work  had  been  done  here  for  30  years, 
the  Messrs.  Curtin  being  probably  the  last  operators  for  the 
old  Martha  furnace  in  Bald  Eagle  valle3T.  Work  had  been 
carried  on  over  about  8  acres  of  ground,  though  at  present 
none  of  the  pits  seemed  to  be  over  25'  deep.  The  Celtic 
Company  did  some  comparatively  recent  testing  outside  of 
the  old  pits  but  no  great  amount  of  ore  was  raised. 

James  Pierpoint,  Esq.,  furnished  me  with  the  following 
analysis : — 


BUFFALO  KUN  GROUP.  T.  199 

Iron, 44.340 

Phosphorus,      072 

Insoluble  matter, 22.020 

51.  Desert  Bank. — West  1£  miles  from  the  Gray  bank 
and  at  the  present  terminus  of  branch  to  Buffalo  Run  R. 
R.,  near  the  Patton-Half  Moon  township  line,  the  Celtic 
Iron  Co.  have  opened  up  the  Desert  bank  on  land  of  J.  & 
G.  Mattern. 

The  main  opening  is  close  to  George  Mattern' s  house  and 
about  2^  miles  east  of  Storm  town. 

The  ore  rights  are  owned  by  John  Thompson,  Esq.,  of 
Martha  furnace. 

Much  of  the  land  now  taken  up  by  farmers  along  the 
Nittany  valley  was  originally  owned  by  the  iron  furnaces 
along  the  Bald  Eagle  valley. 

These  corporations  in  selling  out  their  lands  in  small 
bodies,  always  reserved  the  ore  rights  less  12£  cents  per  ton 
royalty  allowed  the  farmers  for  damages,  etc.  While  this 
arrangement  gives  the  lessor  undisputed  right  to  excavate 
any  property  to  the  detriment  of  the  farming  interests,  it 
also  embarrasses  the  sale  of  land  in  fee  simple,  and  has 
assisted  more  than  anything  else  in  retarding  the  develop- 
ment of  good  land  by  reason  of  this  multiplication  of 
proprietors. 

The  Celtic  Co.  have  tested  an  area  of  500  yards  E.  and 
W.  and  200  yards  N".  and  S.,  with  fully  100  shafts,  and 
have  pretty  well  denned  the  limits  of  the  deposit  in  this 
field.  In  the  adjoining  land  east,  owned  in  fee  simple  by 
Mattern,  prospecting  has  been  done  to  a  much  more  limited 
degree,  but  shows  fair  results  south  of  the  limestone  ridge, 
north  of  road.  There  seems  to  be  but  little  stripping  neces- 
sary, and  the  deposit  shows  good  rich  lump  ore. 

No  estimate  of  tonnage  could  be  made  here,  as  no  ore  has 
been  washed,  nor  was  any  record  of  the  shafts  obtainable  ; 
but  from  what  I  saw  turned  out  in  the  trial  pits,  the  wash 
will  probably  show  I  to  5,  and  there  is  certainly  some  very 
deep  ore  here. 

The  windlass  shaft  just  above  the  original  open  pit  was 


200  T'.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIEKS. 

down  78'  on  July  11,  1883,  two  thirds  of  which  is  in  ore, 
most  of  it  good  lump. 

Some  drifting  was  done  from  the  bottom,  and  probably 
400  tons  of  lump  ore  raised. 

There  is  altogether  some  800  tons  on  dump  at  the  various 
shafts  awaiting  shipment,  200  tons  having  been  screened. 

But  little  of  this  was  taken  from  the  old  pit  nearest  the 
road,  about  15'  deep,  which  shows  some  lean  wash  ore  in 
north  face,  and  a  nose  of  sandy  limestone  in  the  south, dip- 
ping apparently  N.  38°  E.  60°. 

Many  of  the  shafts  are  claimed  to  have  shown  good  re- 
sults at  50  and  60  feet,  and  the  average  of  all  pits  is  about 
30'. 

The  range  is  limited  by  a  limestone  crest  on  the  north 
and  the  old  pit  on  the  south,  feathering  in  both  directions, 
and  evidently  carrying  the  deepest  ore  at  the  windlass  shaft. 
The  show  is  leanest  towards  the  north-west,  where  the  de- 
posit has  become  decidedly  mixed  with  clay  and  flint. 

The  property  certainly  merits  attention,  now  that  railroad 
communication  is  assured,  and  it  will,  no  doubt,  be  an  im- 
portant producer  in  the  near  future,  though  its  ore  is  cold- 
short. 

Several  analyses  of  ore  from  this  deposit  have  been  made 
at  different  times,  and  the  results  will- be  found  appended. 

No.  1. — Sample  of  94  pieces  mixed  and  dried  at  212°  P., 
September,  1881,  is  by  A.  S.  McCreath  : 

Sesquioxide  of  iron 67.142 

"        "        '•    manganese, .443 

Alumina, 1.250 

Lime,       730 

Magnesia, 389 

Sulphuric  acid, .005 

Phosphoric  " .717 

Water,     12.094 

Insoluble  matter, 17.310 

Total,    .  .     100.080 


Metallic  iron, 47.000 

"        manganese, .309 

Sulphur,  002 

Phosphorus 313 

Phos.  iu  100  parts  iron .666 


BUFFALO  RUN  GROUP.  T4.  201 

Mr.  John  I.  Thompson,  of  Lemont,  analysed  ore  from 
shaft  No.  5  for  the  Celtic  Co.  at  various  times,  and  sends  me 
the  following  analysis  of  ;'  sample  clean,  dark-brown  ore 
some  porous  with  enclosed  sand  :" 

Moisture 2.090 

Combined  water, 12.240 

Insoluble  residue,  silica, .  .   .    13.505 

Insoluble  residue,  alumina, 2.400 

Insoluble  residue,  lime,      .078 

Insoluble  residue, magnesia, .147 

Oxide  of  iron,       68  26C 

Oxide  of  manganese, .189 

Phosphoric  acid, 964 

Sulphur, Oil 

Lime, 065 

Magnesia 081 

Alumina, .285 

Total 100..315 

Iron 47.780 

Phosphorus, .421 

Phos.  iu  100  parts  iron, 881 

Mr.  James  Pierpoint,  Supt.  Juniata  Mining  Co.,  who 
had  charge  of  the  prospecting  for  the  Celtic  Co.,  kindly 
forwards  the  following  analyses  of  ore  from  this  locality. 
No.  I  labeled  Hartsock  bank  (probably  extension  of  Desert 
bank).  No.  2,  Miles  Mattern's  farm,  Patton  township. 
Nos.  3  and  4,  Trial  shafts  on  George  Mattern's  farm.  No. 
5,  Desert  bank. 

(1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5) 

Iron, 38.560  50.000  45.393  51.263  44,289 

Phosprons, 309  .208  .350  -291  .286 

Insoluble  matter,  .    .    .    .35.140  10.220  18.620  15.640  23.840 

52.  Hard  bank  (Celtic  Co.),  in  Half  Moon  township, 
also  idle,  is  located  on  same  range  and  side  hill  about  £ 
mile  west  of  Desert  bank. 

The  pit  is  about  175'  long,  60'  wide  and  20'  deep.  Origi- 
nally worked  by  Curtin  Bros,  for  Martha  furnace,  and  after- 
wards by  John  Thompson.  Only  wash  ore  is  reported  here, 
which  lies  rather  deep  and  is  covered  with  considerable  sur- 
face soil.  Mr.  Pierpoint  furnishes  the  following  anatyses  :  — 

(i)  (2) 

Iron, 43.763  49.864 

Phosphorus 208  .231 

Insoluble  matter, 25.380  15.330 


202  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D  INVILLIERS. 

From  this  bank  west  the  continuity  of  this  range  is  con- 
siderably gapped,  owing  in  a  great  measure  probably  to  the 
erosion  brought  about  by  steep  and  overturned  dips  in  the 
anticlinal  in  this  part  of  the  valley. 

Consequently  the  territory  around  Stormstown,  if  we 
except  one  or  two  weak  outcrops  south  on  the  Scotia  road, 
is  quite  barren  through  the  valley  of  Half  Moon  run  as  far 
west  as  the  village  of  Loveville.  Here  quite  extensive  de- 
velopments have  been  made  in  the  old 

53.  Love  Bank,  now  Dunkirk  Mining  Go's  bank,  situ- 
ated about  4  miles  S.  W.  of  Stormstown,  and  mostly  con- 
fined to  a  hollow  leading  up  S.  W.  from  Half  Moon  run  at 
Loveville. 

An  exhaustive  description  of  the  various  openings  here 
as  they  appeared  in  1873  can  be  found  in  Prof.  J .  P.  Lesley's 
report  on  the  lands  of  Lyon,  Shorb  &  Co.,  in  which  will 
be  found  his  topographical  sketch-map  of  the  locality  which 
sufficiently  illustrates  the  condition  of  things  now.* 

The  Chestnut  ridge  "barrens"  lie  to  the  south  of  the 
openings,  and  a  narrow  but  prominent  ridge  of  blue  lime- 
stone cuts  off  the  ore  to  the  north. 

North  of  tliis  latter  ridge  some  little  pipe  ore  has  been 
found  in  higher  limestone  rocks,  showing  sink-holes,  and 
considerably  broken  up. 

Limestone  in  this  hill  dips  S.  30°-35°  E.  45°-oO°,  and  is 
of  a  hard  crystalline  character.  The  dip  is  probably  over- 
turned. 

The  ravine  to  the  south  between  the  two  hills  is  about  300 
yards  wide  and  forms  a  good  natural  basin  for  the  settling 
dams  nearer  the  village. 

The  excavation  proper  is  confined  to  about  one  acre  of 
ground,  though  the  company  owns  a  300-acre  farm  and  have 
tested  about  3  acres  in  one  field  around  the  works.  It  is 
here  that  the  surface  show  is  most  abundant,  thinning  per- 
ceptibly east. 

The  ore,  judging  from  the  results  obtained  in  trial  pits, 

*Appended  to  this  report. 


BUFFALO  KUN  GROUP.  T4.  203 

rides  up  the  south  flank  of  the  limestone  ridge  nearly  to  its 
flat  crest,  but  undoubtedly  thins  in  that  direction. 

It  shows  well  westward  towards  Col.  Beck's  farm,  where 
considerable  lump  ore  was  taken  from  an  old  bank,  though 
this  opening  appears  to  be  rather  a  continuation  of  the  ores 
occurring  along  the  north  flank  of  the  limestone  ridge. 

If  I  am  right  in  interpreting  the  dips  along  this  ridge  as 
overturned,  these  ores  while  apparently  underlying  the 
limestone  really  overlie  it. 

Considerable  ore  was  taken  from  this  range  for  Hannah 
furnace  from  shafts  50'-80'  deep  along  a  i  mile  of  territory. 
But  these  openings  are  all  abandoned  and  filled  up  now. 

The  ravine  south  of  the  hill  has  been  tested  at  different 
times  almost  from  the  public  road  for  400  yards  S.  W. 

Shafts  near  the  bottom  of  the  hollow  found  pipe  and  hem- 
atite ore  at  about  35  feet,  but  no  great  amount  of  surface 
wash  was  discovered  until  within  the  bounds  of  the  present 
excavation. 

The  old  works  were  always  abandoned  on  striking  water 
at  about  80',  and  nothing  could  be  learned  of  their  results. 

The  record  of  five  comparatively  recent  pits  sunk  along 
west  side  of  pit  were  furnished  me  by  the  superintendent 
in  July,  1883.  One  thus  located  well  up  the  flank  of  the 
limestone  ridge  showed  no  ore  at  all.  The  others  show  the 
great  variation  of  these  deposits,  as  they  are  not  over  50  feet 
apart.  The  following  are  the  results  : 

Shaft  No.  1.  No.  2.  No.  3.  No.  4.  No.  5. 

Wash  ore,  3  Clay,  12'  Clay  and  Good  wash  ore,  21' 

Clay,  5'  Good  ore,  15       limestone  Clay,  3'  Mixed  wash 

Mixed  ore  and  Clay,  4'  Large  lumps,  3'         and  lump 

clay,  33  Ore  lumps,  9  -(-  Fine  ore  &  clay,  3'        ore,  15 

On  the  south-west  side  shafts  were  carried  down  25'-30', 
all  showing  6-8  feet  top  wash  ore,  under  which  good  lump 
ore  is  reported.  In  the  whole  deposit  wash  and  lump  ore 
are  equally  prevalent,  the  lump  ore  being  about  the  size  of 
a  man's  fist. 

There  was  then  a  pile  of  about  600  tons  on  dump,  about 
equally  divided,  all  of  which  had  passed  through  the 
washer. 


204  T4.     KEPOBT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

There  seems  to  be  no  regularity  in  the  ore  layers  at  all, 
each  shaft  showing  a  variation  of  barren  and  rich  ground, 
and  all  demonstrating  the  presence  of  rounded,  water- worn 
material. 

The  main  reliance  of  the  bank  is  in  this  surface  wash  ore 
deposit,  which,  while  being  spread  over  considerable  areas 
and  occurring  at  considerable  depths  in  places,  is  very  vari- 
able. 

The  composition  of  this  ore  is  well  illustrated  by  the  two 
following  analyses : 

No.  1,  sample  of  125  pieces  of  washed  ore,  collected  in 
1881  by  Mr.  McCreath  and  dried  at  212°  F. 

No.  2,  from  Prof.  Lesley's  report,  analysed  by  Dr.  Per- 
sifor  Frazer,  and  sampled  at  the  large  pit  north  of  the  farm 
road  in  the  sketch  map. 

No.  1. 

Sesquioxide  of  iron, 66.178 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese, 361 

Alumina, 3.250 

Liine .250 

Magnesia, 421 

Sulphuric  acid, 082 

Phosphoric  acid 455 

Water,      10.970 

Insoluble  matter, 17.600 


Total 99.567 


Metallic  iron, 46.325 

Metallic  manganese, .252 

Sulphur, 033 

Phosphorus       199 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron, 410 

No.  2. 

Metallic  iron, 45.36 

Alumina, 16t53 

L»«e 0.58 

Silica 6i63 

Sulphur,     Q  04 

Phosphoric  acid, 0.05 

There  is  a  double  25'  washer  at  bank  into  which  material 
is  dumped  direct  from  the  mine  cars. 

Water  is  abundant,  pumped  from  Half  Moon  creek  2500' 
distant.  Washing  is  simple,  as  no  tough  clay  occurs  with 
the  ore,  the  foreign  ingredient' being  mostly  sand.  One  forty 


BUFFALO  RUN  GROUP.  T4.  205 

horse-power  engine  runs  the  washer.  The  ore  is  screened 
after  passing  through  the  washer  and  the  flint  is  separated 
on  a  wide  rubber  belt  before  jigging. 

Ore  is  shipped  from  Loveville  siding  on  L.  &  T.  R.  R., 
about-  one  mile  from  bank,  which  is  1200'  above  tide  level. 
No  ore  was  washed  here  until  the  summer  of  1881. 

Artesian  wells. — Some  interesting  results  were  obtained 
here  in  sinking  two  wells  for  water  supply. 
Both  Avells  were  failures. 

1.  One  sunk  near  the  engine  house,  538'  deep,  struck  lime 
stone  at  35'.     This  was  put  down  by  Haller  &  Co.,  with 
Allegheny  steel  drill. 

2.  The  Diamond  Drill  Co.  bored  a  6-inch  core  500'  S.  W. 
of  engine  house  near  the  west  end  of  the  present  workings. 
It  was  1102  feet  deep  and  the  last  core  of  limestone  is  in  the 
company's  office  at  Loveville. 

They  went  160'  through  clay  and  good  wash  ore,  striking 
the  latter  at  about  125',  and  the  rest  in  limestone. 

This  is  the  last  development  noted  on  this  range  and  is 
not  far  from  the  Huntingdon  county  line. 

The  irregularity  of  the  deposit  makes  mining  here  rather 
expensive,  though  the  ore  material  will  show  a  good  wash 
record. 

The  lack  of  railroad  facilities  and  the  competition  of  the 
superior  Juniata  and  Scotia  ores  also  operate  adversely  to 
mining  activity. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Brown  Hematite  Ores  of  No.  II,  continued. 
E.   The  Barrens  Group. 

This  group  comprises  the  Juniata,  Scotia,  Lytle,  Ackley 
mines  and  others. 

The  ores  of  these  banks — which  are  lower  geologically 
than  any  other  in  the  district,  occurring,  probably,  SOOO'-f- 
below  No.  Ill  slate— vary  in  appearance  from  a  dark-col- 
ored, often  black  hematite  with  a  pitch-like  lustre,  rich  in 
iron,  to  a  lighter,  liver-colored,  compact  hematite,  not  so 
rich.  In  composition  they  vary  usually  from  44-52  per 
cent,  iron  and  0.08-0.20  per  cent,  phosphorus. 

While  the  origin  of  these  vast  deposits  in  the  sandy 
measures  of  the  "Barrens"  is  still  an  open  question,  it  is 
worthy  of  notice  that  in  all  the  developed  banks  examined 
there  was  no  tendency  to  a  formation  of  a  regular  bed. 

The  ores  rather  seem  to  occupy  an  irregular  shaped  estu- 
ary scooped  out  of  limestone,  having  its  lean  and  rich  spots, 
and  in  places  showing  bands  of  non-ferruginous  clay  en- 
tirely devoid  of  ore,  but  with  good  territory  on  either  side 
of  it.  The  true  bottom  of  this  basin  is  always  limestone, 
though  interstratified  sand  beds  probably  limit  the  ore,  and 
the  surface  soil  is  sandy  and  harsh. 

The  heavier  ores  lie  in  the  bottom  ;  the  more  finely  divi- 
ded and  lighter  varieties  towards  the  top  of  the  deposit. 

I  can  imagine  soluble  iron  salts  to  have  been  originally 
caught  in  the  porous  sandstone  layers  interstratified  with 
the  limestones,  and  afterwards  oxidized  by  organic  matter 
brought  in  by  the  waters  which  slowly  dissolved  the  whole 
formation  and  threw  the  siliceous  members  down  as  loose 
sand  and  filled  the  limestone  crevice  with  hematite  ore. 

(207  T*.) 


208  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D  IXVILLIEUS. 

54.  Juniata  Mining  Company  bank,  in  Half  Moon  town- 
ship, locally  known  as  the  Tow  Hill  mines,  is  situated  on 
lands  of  the  Pennsylvania  Furnace  Company,  about  two 
miles  south  of  Stormstown,  and  on  south  flank  of  Chestnut 
or  Buck  ridge. 

The  company  consists  of  Pittsburgh  men,  Messrs.  Ben- 
nett, Chalfant,  Oliver,  and  others,  with  Mr.  James  Pier- 
point  as  superintendent,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  much 
of  the  information  which  follows. 

Operations  were  commenced  here  in  the  winter  of  1881, 
on  a  tract  of  about  450  acres  leased  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Furnace  Company,  though  mining  had  been  formerly  car- 
ried on  here  many  years  ago  in  several  small  and  shallow 
pits  known  as  the  Pond,  Floyd,  California,  Bull,  and  Han- 
nah furnace  banks,  to  supply  the  Pennsylvania  furnace. 
Lump  ore  was  mostly  selected  from  them  and  screened  at 
the  mines,  so  that  much  good,  fine  ore,  considered  refuse 
then,  is  to  be  found  on  the  various  screening  floors  through 
the  "barrens." 

Most  of  these  small  banks  are  described  in  Prof.  Lesley's 
report,  in  the  appendix  to  this  volume,  to  which  the  reader 
is  referred,  as  they  have,  in  most  cases,  been  long  since 
abandoned  for  larger  operations  at  the  base  of  the  hill. 

Two  local  maps  showing  their  position  well  up  on  the 
"  barren  "  ridge  will  there  be  found. 

The  ore  tract,  as  proved  by  the  present  company,  is 
about  li  miles  IS".  E.  and  S.  W.,  and  £  mile  N.  W.  and  S. 
E.,  fully  f  of  the  former  distance  being  tested  with  pits 
from  10'-30'  deep. 

Being  essentially  a  wash  ore  deposit,  it  will  vary  greatly 
in  richness  in  different  parts  of  this  area. 

On  leaving  these  limits  the  whole  surface  becomes  barren 
and  sandy  ;  each  individual  shaft  shows  a  different  record, 
which  seems  natural  if  we  view  the  deposit  as  a  wash,  and 
the  rounded  character  of  its  accompanying  flint  and  sand, 
as  well  as  the  ore  itself,  warrants  that  belief. 

But  in  each  of  these  shafts  there  is  more  or  less  show  of 
ore,  promising  well  in  places  elsewhere  lean  and  sandy. 


BARRENS  GROUP.  T.  209 

And  the  ore  itself  will  show  every  grade  of  character  and 
color,  loosely  aggregated  in  a  mass  of  clay  and  sand. 

A  narrow  sand  and  clay  belt,  perfectly  barren,  and  con- 
taining variegated  tough  clays,  cuts  the  present  excavation 
throughout  its  entire  length,  and  is  even  distinguished  fur- 
ther on  in  both  directions. 

It  is  parallel  to  the  trend  of  the  rocks  N.  E.  and  S.  W.,  and 
divides  the  ores  in  the  flat  or  hollow  from  those  irregular 
deposits  occurring  well  up  on  the  hillside,  shown  in  figures. 

These  clay  banks  are  a  feature  in  almost  all  the  ore 
banks  of  the  "barrens"  in  Centre  county,  and  have  been 
likewise  noted  as  occurring  at  the  large  Springfield  bank* 
in  Blair  county,  which  evidently  occurs  in  precisely  similar 
rocks  and  at  a  parallel  horizon. 

55.  The  first  work  done  by  the  present  company  in  this 
field  was  at  the  end  of  the  L.  &  T.  R.  R.  branch  into  mine. 
An  incline  was  put  down  here  from  the  washers  to  a  trench 
from  50  or  60  feet  long  and  20  feet  wide. 

The  ore  here  however  was  found  to  be  similar  to  various 
crops  further  south  along  the  railroad,  sandy  and  flinty  and 
exposed  to  an  excessive  surface  drainage  from  the  higher 
ground  to  the  north. 

56.  They  next  re-opened  the  old  Floyd  pit  300'  E.  and  W., 
150'  N.  and  S.,  and  20'  deej),  situated  about  200  yards  north 
against  side  hill,  where  a  considerable  amount  of  ore  was 
taken  out  by  pick  and  shovel.     The  ore  was  condemned  as 
being  lean  and  flinty.     Very  little  was  to  be  seen  there,  as 
the  sides  were  greatly  washed. 

Mr.  Pierpoint  furnishes  the  following  partial  analysis  I—- 
iron,     47.621 

Phosphorus 19.183 

Insoluble  matter, 063 

The  present  workings  are  situated  about  £  mile  from  the 
washer  and  in  low  ground  at  the  base  of  the  hill  to  the 
north. 

*An  interesting  description  of  this  mine  will  be  found  iu  Report  T,  page 
157,  et  seq. 

14  T4. 


210  T*.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

After  thoroughly  testing  this  ground  with  pits  and  some 
little  hand  digging,  the  company  resolved  to  employ  one  of 
Southey  &  Co.'s  steam  excavators,  and,  so  far  as  this  bank  is 
concerned,  the  decision  was  a  wise  one. 

It  is  claimed  that  they  do  the  work  of  40  men,  and  require 
3  men  inside,  a  fireman,  engineer,  and  dumper  ;  2  men  on 
top  of  the  bank  to  loosen  the  crust  left  by  steam  scoop  ;  2  at 
bottom  and  3  men  for  loading. 

The  vertical  reach  of  the  scoop  is  about  18'  and  its  capacity 
about  550  cubic  yards  of  excavation  per  day  of  10  hours.  It 
consumes  £  ton  of  fuel  per  day.  The  original  cost  of  a 
machine  of  this  size  is  about  $7,000. 

On  July  23d,  1883,  when  last  visited,  this  excavation  was 
about  125  yards  long,  40  wide,  and  5  deep,  or  25,000  cubic 
yards.  The  ore  seemed  to  be  bearing  north  towards  hill 
and  the  future  work  of  the  excavator  will  be  advanced  in 
that  direction. 

A  description  of  the  appearance  of  this  opening  during 
any  one  visit  would  be  as  useless  as  a  map  of  the  excava- 
tion itself,  for  such  is  the  amount  of  work  done  by  the  ex- 
cavators that  in  my  two  visits  a  week  apart,  the  work  of  the 
machine  had  eliminated  a  tough  purple  and  white  clay 
and  which  hardly  paid  for  washing  and  had  gotten  into 
most  excellent  material  which  showed  scarcely  any  flint,  (a 
usual  accompaniment  of  these  ores)  and  which  gave  the 
jigs  comparatively  little  work. 

This  statement  will  probably  illustrate  the  excessively 
variable  character  of  these  deposits,  so  that  with  the  exer- 
cise of  the  greatest  foresight,  but  little  real  information  of 
what  a  day's  work  will  bring  forth  is  realized. 

The  system  of  the  company  has  usually  been  to  sink  trial 
pits  15'-20'  deep  in  the  direction  they  are  working,  for  the 
excavator  cannot  choose  its  ground  when  once  at  work,  but 
turns  everything  before  it  into  the  mine  cars. 

The  west  face,  when  last  seen,  was  lean  and  sandy,  while 
south  of  the  entrance  to  the  pit  most  excellent  lump  ore 
was  embedded  in  white  clay. 

The  bottom  of  the  mine  was  apparently  half  hard  lump 
ore,some  of  it  too  large  to  handle  well,  which,  when  washed 


BARRENS  GROUP.  T4.  211 

on  the  next  level  will  average  the  mine's  output  excellently, 
being  rich  in  iron  and  heavy.  Much  of  this  lump  ore  is  oc- 
casionally mixed  in  with  the  surface  shippings,  and  is  sep- 
arated before  the  bulk  of  the  material  passes  into  the  wash- 
ers. 

From  the  western  extremity  of  the  opening  the  ore  crop 
could  be  distinctly  traced  by  its  "  blossom  "  for  some  dis- 
tance, besides  having  been  tested  by  many  shafts.  There 
is  evidently  an  enormous  deposit  of  this  wash  ore  here,  and 
the  place  is  so  situated  as  to  be  capable  of  a  much  larger  de- 
velopment. The  cost  of  mining  and  loading  in  cars  is  about 
$1  50  per  ton  exclusive  of  royalties. 

The  ore  runs  about  .080  per  cent,  (average)  in  phosphor- 
ous, as  against  .040  at  Scotia,  but  the  low  amount,  if  any,  of 
manganese  makes  this  ore  valuable  for  foundry  iron,  and  it 
is  greatly  on  this  ore  that  R.  H.  Powell  &  Co.,  (who  are 
large  consumers,)  are  said  to  have  made  their  reputation  in 
foundry  irons. 

A  sample  of  the  washed  ore  was  taken  from  a  series  of 
loaded  cars  at  the  mines  by  Mr.  James  Pierpoint,  which  I 
forwarded  to  Mr.  A.  S.  McCreath.  He  reports  the  follow- 
ing results.  Sample,  80  pieces,  dried  at  212°  P. : 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,       60.785 

'•        "        "  manganese,     .103 

Alumina 2.795 

Lime,       230 

Magnesia, 227 

Sulphuric  acid, .015 

Phosphoric  acid, 259 

Water,  9.748 

Siliceous  matter, 25.610 

Total, 99.772 


Metallic  iron, 42.550 

Metallic  manganese, .072 

Sulphur, .  .006 

Phosphorus,      .113 

Phosphorous  in  100  parts  iron,         .265 

The  high  percentage  of  siliceous  matter  and  phosphorous 
in  this  sample  affords  another  striking  exam  pie  of  the  vari- 
able constitution  of  these  ores,  usually  averaging  45  per  cent 
metallic  iron  and  below  0.1  per  cent  of  phosphorus. 


212  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

The  bulk  of  the  work  here  is  of  course  done  by  the  exca- 
vator, butthecompany  has  arranged  for  individual  contract 
labor  at  the  old  pits  around  the  main  work,  paying  $1  per 
ton  for  screened  ore  at  the  mine.  Very  little  of  this  ore  can 
be  shipped  alone,  owing  to  its  being  imperfectly  cleaned. 
A  short  description  of  these  pits  is  appended. 

57.  Pond  Bank,  the  furthest  east  of  the  old  Pennsyl- 
vania furnace  workings,  is  about  200  yards  south  of  the  in- 
cline plane,  in  the  same  hollow  as  the  main  excavation. 

It  shows  now  a  pit  100/x50/x20/  (grass-grown  and  long 
since  abandoned)  in  which,  however,  some  recent  trial 
shafts  showed  good  prospects. 

In  Prof.  Lesley' s  report  of  1873  itis  described  as  "honey- 
combed, rather  light,  easy  smelting-ore,  dipping  south- 
east." *  * 

If  the  following  analysis  copied  from  that  report  repre- 
sents anything  like  the  average  grade  of  ore,  the  place  should 
receive  more  attention.  Dr.  Grenth.  who  made  the  analysis 
says:  "Two  of  the  four  specimens  received  were  of  a 
dark-brown,  porous  amorphous  ore,  with  very  little  lustre, 
more  or  less  mixed  with  reddish  and  yellowish  ochreous 
ore  ;  the  third  piece  was  of  a  pale  brown  and  contained 
small  quantities  of  fibrous  ore  ;  the  fourth  was  an  ochreous 
ore  of  a  pale  brown  and  yellowish  color.  An  average  of 
these  four  samples  gave : 

Ferric  oxide,       78.68 

Manganic  oxide, 0.42 

Alumina, 2.89 

Magnesia,     0.20 

Phosphoric  acid, 0.16 

Silicic  acid,       3.17 

Quartz, 1.71 

Water, 1277 

100.00 


Metallic  iron, 55.08 

Phosphorus, 0.07 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron •   •   .   .     0.127 

From  the  character  of  sample  such  an  analysis  might  be 
expected.  Mr.  Pierpoint  furnishes  the  following  two, 
which  more  nearly  represent  the  average  :  (Pa.  Steel  Co.) 


BARRENS  GROUP.  T".  213 

(1)  (2) 

Iron, 47.880  43.689 

Phosphorus,       080  .091 

Insoluble  matter, — 


f)S.  The  Red  bank  is  on  the  hill  side  200  yards  north  of 
present  workings  and  it  seems  to  indicate  the  line  of  deep- 
est ore,  though  separated  by  the  clay  and  sand  band 
already  alluded  to. 

It  lies  close  to  the  road  leading  to  Gatesburg,  300  yards 
further  along  which  white,  thick-bedded  sandy  limestone 
dips  S  30°  E.  28°. 

The  pit  shows  5'-10'  of  sand  covering,  wash  from  the  hill 
top,  under  which  good  ore  comes  in.  The  excavation  is 
about  100'  N.  and  S.,  50'  E  and  W.  15'  deep.  The  east  and 
west  sides  show  very  wellwith  about  4'-10'  of  wash  ore, 
separated  by  a  clay  band  from  rather  siliceous  red  ore  in 
bottom. 

The  north  and  south  ends  are  lean  and  show  considerable 
clay.  South-west  100  feet  from  here  a  shaft  54  feet  deep 
showed  ore  still  in  bottom. 

An  average  of  5  samples  was  analysed  by  Dr.  F.  A.  Genth  : 

Ferric  oxide,       65.44 

Manganic  oxide, 0.13 

Cobaltic  oxide, trace. 

Alumina,      5.31 

Magnesia, 0.16 

Lime,      trace. 

Phosphoric  acid, 0.21 

Silicic  acid, 6.76 

Quartz, 12.78 

Water, 9.21 

Total,  .  .    ] 00.00 


Metallic  iron, 45.81 

Phosphorus, 0.09 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron, 0.195 

Dr.  Genth  described  it  as  "generally  an  amorphous 
compact  ore,  with  considerable  admixture  of  sand.  Some 
is  more  porous  and  has  the  cavities  lined  with  fibrous 
limonite,  and  more  or  less  filled  with  clay.  Emits,  when 
breathed  upon,  a  strong  argillaceous  odor." 


214  T.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Mr.  Pierpoint  furnishes  two  partial  analyses  : 


Iron,  ..............    52.879  51.313 

Phosphorous  ...........  049  .070 

Insoluble  matter  ........    10.880  12.840 

59.  California  bank  is  a  small  pit  60'  N.  and  S.,  30'  E. 
and  W.  and  10'  deep,  about  200  yards  south-west  of  Red 
Bank,  on  same  strike.      It  shows  considerable  loose  lump 
ore,  cleaner  than  .the  Red  bank. 

Its  position  is  shown  in  Prof.  Lesley's  sketch  map. 
He  says  of  it  in  his  report  of  1873  that  "it  receives  its  name 
from  the  richness  of  its  ore,  before  it  was  abandoned  20  or 
25  years  ago,  on  account  of  its  distance  from  Pennsylvania 
furnace,  the  abundance  of  water  and  lack  of  pumping  appa- 
ratus, the  refractory  character  of  its  mineral  in  the  cold- 
blast  charcoal  stack,  and  especially  the  abundance  of  good 
ore  at  the  furnace  itself.  Pits  of  standing  water  show  20 
feet  of  wash  ore  in  their  walls." 

60.  HannaJi  Furnace  bank  still  higher  up  the  hill  to 
the  N.E.,  and  about  1425'  above  tide,  and  east  of  the  Gates- 
burg  bank,  was  abandoned  long  ago.    Prof.  Lesley  describes 
it  as  showing  15'-20'  of  good,  dark,  abundant  wash  ore  in 
the  side  walls,  and  coming  close  to  the  surface.      Mr.  Pier- 
point  furnishes  the  following  analysis  of  this  ore  : 

Iron,  52.360;  phosphorous,  .086;  insoluble  matter,  12.228. 

61.  The  Bull  and  Hartsock  banks  lie  half  a  mile  east, 
and  show  about  60,000  cubic  yards  of  excavation,  though 
now  greatly  filled  up.     They  lie  close  to  south-east  dipping 
limestone  on  the  ridge,  and  appear  to  be  detached  pockets, 
though  occurring  in  the  line  of  strike  of  the  other  banks 
just  mentioned.     A  mass  of  barren  sand  occurs  between  the 
openings.     The  ores  are  generally  of  a  dark,  black,  sandy 
texture,  high  in  iron. 

Average  of  five  samples  sent  Dr.  Genth,  taken  from  an 
old  ore  pile  at  the  bank,  gave  the  following  result  on  an 
analysis  : 


BARRENS  GROUP.  T4.  215 

Ferric  oxide,     74.85 

Manganicoxide,      .029 

Cobaltic  oxide 021 

Alumina, .242 

Magnesia, .012 

Lime, trace. 

Phosphoric  acid, .024 

Silicic  acid, 415 

Quartz, 592 

Water, 11.80 


Total, 100.000 


Metallic  iron, 52.40 

Phosphorus       0.105 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  of  iron,      0.200 

Mr.  Pierpoint  sends  the  two  following  analyses  made  from 
samples  collected  when  prospecting  this  territory  in  1881: 

(1)  (2)  Pa.  Steel  Co. 

Iron, 54.260  45.960 

Phosphorus.      084  .088 

Insoluble  matter, 23.733 

Various  other  small  and  nameless  pits  have  furnished 
more  or  less  ore.  The  entire  tract  can  be  relied  upon  for  a 
40-45  per  cent  ore. 

The  system  of  development  carried  on  at  present  gives 
the  operators  every  advantage  of  drainage  and  an  easy 
grade  for  carrying  their  ores  to  the  washers  by  means  of-  a 
narrow-guage  steam  road  and  a  small  engine,  pulling  a  train 
of  20  cars  to  the  foot  of  the  incline  plane,  whence  it  is 
hoisted  to  the  washers. 

Plant. — The  hoisting  engines  consist  of  one  pair  of 
12"x20"  engines  with  an  8'  drum  and  a  V  steel  wire  rope. 

From  the  head  of  the  plane  a  mule  train  of  four  cars  is 
conveyed  to  the  washers.  The  cars  hold  about  one  cubic 
yard  of  material  and  open  at  the  side,  dumping  at  an  angle 
of  45°  on  to  a  grate  with  bars  about  3"  apart,  at  present 
armed  with  railroad  iron  ties. 

Unlike  the  Scotia  slanting  bars,  the  grate  here  is  hori- 
zontal, and  the  material  is  not  played  upon  with  water.  This 
seems  to  be  an  advantage  over  the  plan  pursued  at  Scotia, 
for  the  earth  and  clay  do  not  become  sticky  and  plastic, 


216  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  Y.  D^INVILLIERS. 

and  by  a  little  raking  all  the  fine  material  readily  passes 
through  the  bars  to  the  washer,  and  requires  only  about 
half  the  force  at  the  grate.  The  large  ore  lumps  are  thus 
separated  from  the  finer  material,  and  are  taken  directly  to 
the  cars  after  being  picked  of  flint  balls. 

The  washing  apparatus  consists  of  two  pairs  of  double 
shafts,  each  geared  to  a  separate  engine,  so  that  they  can 
be  run  independently. 

These  shafts  are  26  feet  long,  thus  giving  52  feet  of  trav- 
eling surface  to  each  washer.  The  power  for  each  is  a  re- 
versing engine  12x24,  so  geared  that  when  any  large  lumps 
of  material  get  caught  in  the  scoops  of  the  washer,  clogging 
the  movement  of  the  shaft,  the  engine  can  be  readily  re- 
versed until  the  large  lumps  fall  back.  A  steam  whistle 
gives  the  engineer  a  signal  when  this  clogging  occurs. 

This  saves  many  breakages  and  delays. 

The  washed  material  is  passed  into  a  revolving,  truncated, 
cone-shaped  screen,  where  again  the  largest  pieces  of  ore 
and  flint  not  passing  through  a  1-inch  mesh  are  passed  out 
the  mouth  of  the  screen,  picked  of  flint  by  hand,  and  taken 
to  the  cars. 

Everything  that  passes  through  the  meshes  of  the  screen 
is  partially  washed  of  its  clay,  mud,  and  fine  silt  (which  is 
carried  off  to  settling  dam),  and  drops  into  a  receiving 
trough,  to  be  carried  by  wide  rubber  belts  to  the  jig  house, 
being  partially  picked  of  its  flint  by  boys  as  it  passes 
along  slowly. 

The  jig  house  is  supplied  with  four  screens  set  one  below 
the  other  in  the  same  vertical  plane,  furnished  with  meshes 
so  sized  by  experience  that  each  jig  receives  about  the  same 
amount  of  material,  though  of  different  sizes.  Most  of  the 
flint  being  rounded  or  globular,  is  readily  separated  from 
the  heavier  ore  material  in  these  jigs.  The  jig  platforms 
receiving  the  mixed  material,  separate  it  by  difference  of 
specific  gravity  into  ore  and  flint,  each  passing  into  its  sepa- 
rate compartment. 

The  jigs  here  have  a  combined  capacitj^  of  40-50  tons  a 
day,  or  about  -J-  the  total  product  of  the  mine. 

The  jigged  material  is  raised  by  cups  on  a  Pater  Noster 


BARRENS  GROUP.  T4.  217 

chain  to  bins  leading  directly  into  cars  on  tlie  railroad 
siding.  These  bins  have  a  capacity  of  about  100  tons,  so 
that  material  can  be  stored  there  until  ready  for  shipment 
and  drawn  at  will. 

The  boiler  house  is  supplied  with  a  battery  of  three  tubu- 
lar 30'  boilers,  each  having  two  tube's,  Avhich  allows  of  their 
being  readily  cleaned. 

The  water  for  them  is  drawn  from  a  separate  tank  of 
pure,  clean  water,  holding  about  10,000  gallons,  which  also 
supplies  sprays  of  water  to  washers. 

There  are,  in  addition,  three  tanks  with  a  capacity  of  28,- 
000  to  30.000  gallons,  supplied  by  wells  for  washing  pur- 
poses. These  wells  are  about  330'  deep,  with  a  standing 
column  of  45-50  feet  of  water,  in  all  of  which  solid  rock 
(limestone)  was  struck  at  about  265  feet. 

If  this  is  the  same  limestone  that  crops  on  the  ridge  to  the 
north,  it  dips  pretty  strongly  south-east  to  attain  such  a 
depth  here,  while  the  same  fact  illustrates  the  depth  of  the 
cavern  into  which  has  been  collected  the  vast  mass  of  clay, 
sand,  and  wash  ore  already  described. 

Each  well  has  a  separate  engine,  so  that  they  can  be 
worked  independently.  Nos.  1  and  3  are  geared  engines, 
with  4'  stroke  ;  No.  2  is  the  old  oil  well  pattern  with  32" 
stroke,  though  apparently  throwing  as  large  a  stream  as 
either  of  the  other  two. 

Another  important  feature  of  the  water  supply  here  is  the 
cistern  located  about  ^  mile  below  the  washer  on  the  railroad 
track.  Tliis  cistern  is  supplied  with  water  from  a  settling 
dam,  located  in  a  wide,  natural  ravine,  and  as  it  covers 
much  superficial  area,  the  surface  water  from  it  is  drawn 
off  at  dam  almost  perfectly  clarified.  After  being  caught 
in  the  cistern,  drawn  off  by  a  flood-gate  at  the  breast  of  the 
dam,  the  water  is  pumped  up  90'  through  a  1"  wrought-iron 
pipe  to  the  tank  at  the  washer.  The  power  is  furnished 
by  a  Nelson  and  Snyder  double-plunger  pump,  18x36  steam 
cylinder  and  12x36  water  cylinder. 

By  this  means  a  constant  supply  of  good  water  is  ob- 
tained, and  at  a  great  saving  over  the  deep  wells  using  10 
times  the  amount  of  fuel. 


218  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D  IXVILLIERS. 

It  is  the  only  place  in  the  county  that  I  have  noticed  this 
important  utilization  of  the  waste  water. 

The  whole  plant  is  compact  and  well  constructed,  and 
shows  economical  work  and  good  results. 


62.  Scotia  Ore  BanJcs  (Carnegie  Bros.  &  Co.)  is  in  the 
same  synclinal  as  the  Juniata  mines,  between  the  Chestnut 
ridge  and  Gatesburg  anticlinals  and  2  miles  eastward.  It 
lies  in  the  south-west  corner  of  Patton  township  at  the 
present  terminus  of  the  Lewisburg  and  Tyrone  Railroad,  and 
about  3  miles  south  of  Matternville,  in  the  Buffalo  run  val- 
ley. 

The  land  upon  which  the  operation  is  located,  about  300 
acres,  was  formerly  owned  by  the  Centre  furnace,  except  a 
small  portion  near  the  washers,  which  was  purchased  from 
the  Pennsylvania  furnace  property. 

The  present  company  commenced  work  in  1881,  though 
considerable  lump  ore  was  carried  away  from  here  by  the 
Irwins  for  Centre  furnace,  when  the  bank  was  known  by  the 
name  of  the  River  Hill  tract.  Much  that  has  been  said 
concerning  the  characteristics  of  the  Juniata  mine  deposit 
are  equally  applicable  here,  for  the  two  banks  are  in  iden- 
tically similar  rocks,  have  been  formed  by  the  same  agen- 
cies, and  have  similar  ores,  (though  the  Scotia  ores  show 
only  about  half  the  percentage  of  phosphorus,)  and  are 
topographically  similarly  situated. 

The  same  variation  in  richness  and  leanness  of  the  de- 
posit in  different  places  exists  and  within  the  tested  area  of 
1£  miles  K  E.  and  S.  W.  and  J  mile  E".  W.  and  S.  E.  every 
trial  shaft  is  reasonably  certain  to  show  more  or  less  ore. 
Outside  this  limit  the  same  barren,  sandy  waste,is  to  be  re- 
marked. 

Massive  sand  rocks,  disintegrating  into  a  white  sand,  crop 
on  the  hillside  around  the  bank,  and  no  doubt  make  the 
bottom  rock  to  the  ore,  though  the  Scotia  wells  nearly  400' 
deep  in  limestone,  prove  conclusively  that  the  theory  of 
this  sand  rock  being  the  bottom  of  No.  II,  if  not  the  top 
member  of  the  next  lowest  formation  ''Potsdam  sandstone 
Js*o.  I)  is  quite  untenable. 


BARRENS  GROUP.  T4.  219 

The  occurrence  of  non- ferruginous  tough  white  clay  and 
sandy  layers  is  also  to  be  remarked  here,  and  such  have 
been  left  untouched  in  the  long  (Monison  ?)  cut  at  the  mine, 
while  excellent  wash  ore  has  been  taken  from  behind  them. 

In  former  times,  when  worked  for  Centre  furnace,  this  ore 
was  screened  and  the  large  lumps  alone  conveyed  to  the 
furnace,  in  consequence  of  which  the  refuse  of  these  screen- 
ings 4'  thick  (all  of  which  will  wash  well)  covers  the  orig- 
inal surface  over  considerable  areas.  The  ore  is  of  all  char- 
acters and  grades  and  is  usually  rounded  and  water- worn 
as  are  the  accompanying  flint  balls. 

The  trial  pits  over  the  property  do  not  usually  strike 
solid  rock,  but  sand  and  clay  mixed  with  wash  ore  and 
large  lumps. 

The  same  system  of  working  as  pursued  at  Juniata  is 
adopted  here,  and  everything  scooped  out  by  the  excavator 
is  passed  through  the  washers  except  the  large  hand- 
picked  lumps. 

The  clays  are  of  all  colors — purple,  red,  brown,  and 
white — frequently  found  mixed  with  sandstone  pieces  and 
flint,  and  generally  tough  and  refractory  in  their  behavior 
in  the  washers. 

The  scarcity  of  bomb-shell  ore  and  real  pipe  ore  is  notice- 
able, most  of  the  ore  being  of  a  heavy  dark  brown  to 
black  hematite,  often  carrying  sand. 

The  first  work  here  was  done  by  horse  and  cart,  though 
at  present  two  large  excavators  are  at  work  in  the  two 
largest  cuts  on  the  property,  each  with  a  capacity  of  550 
cubic  yards  of  material  per  day. 

Though  visited  several  times  in  July  and  again  in  Septem- 
ber, 1883,  but  little  statistical  information  could  be  ob- 
tained from  parties  at  the  mines,  though  these  would  so 
closely  resemble  those  already  given  at  the  Juniata  mine  as 
not  to  need  repetition  here. 

The  two  cuts  worked  here,  each  by  a  separate  excavator, 
are  some  distance  from  the  washers,  to  which  the  ore  is 
conveyed  by  a  narrow  guage  steam  road  nearly  a  mile  dis- 
tant. 

In  July,  1883,  work  was  being  principally  carried  on  in 


220  T.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

the  Momson(T)  cut,  then  about  300  yards  N.  E.  and  S.  W., 
25  yards  wide  N.  W.  and  S.  E.,  and  8  yards  deep. 

The  rapidity  with  which  these  banks  are  excavated  by 
steam  power  will,  of  course,  modify  any  description  that  is 
given  of  them. 

At  that  time  a  good  25-foot  face  of  wash  ore,  carrying 
occasionally  thin  clay  bands,  was  being  cut  down  along  the 
south  face. 

The  north  side  of  the  excavation,  along  which  several 
clay  banks  had  been  left,  appeared  much  leaner,  and  the 
excavator  had  been  stopped  there  owing  to  the  sandy  char- 
acter of  the  material. 

No  better  proof  of  the  variability  of  these  ore  banks  can 
be  cited  than  in  this  instance,  where,  in  a  test  pit  80'  deep, 
sunk  but  a  few  yards  north  of  this  lean  face,  excellent 
wash  ore  was  found  throughout. 

The  most  encouraging  show  of  ore  was  towards  the  south- 
west, the  east  end  towards  washers  being  lean  and  rocky. 

A  general  section  of  this  cut  would  show  about  4'  of  fine 
ore  screenings,  8'  of  fine  wash  ore  and  clay,  and  the  rest  12 
feet  of  clay  and  lump  ore,  with  the  latter  in  bottom  of  ex- 
cavation. 

03.  Irwin  cut.  The  old  original  workings  on  this  prop- 
erty, known  as  the  Irwin  cut,  from  which  ore  was  taken  for 
Centre  furnace,  is  located  about  300  yards  further  N.  E. 

A  large  pile  of  refuse  fine  ore  left  at  that  time  when  the 
large  lumps  alone  were  removed  has  been  washed  profitably 
by  the  present  company. 

The  pit  is  roughly  oval,  125  yards  N.  E.  and  S.  W.,  40 
yards  N.  W.  and  S.  E.,  and  10  yards  deep.  But  little 
knowledge  of  the  ground  below  30'  could  be  obtained,  as  all 
test  holes  sunk  from  the  bottom  of  the  mine  struck  spurt- 
ing water  when  still  in  good  ore  ground. 

The  show  for  a  handsome  return  here  is  excellent,  and 
though  considerable  delay  was  incurred  in  preparing  the 
mine  for  the  work  of  the  excavator,  the  company  was  just 
beginning  to  utilize  the  machine  with  encouraging  results 
when  the  locality  was  last  visited  in  the  fall  of  1883.  The 


BARRENS  GROUP.  T4.  221 

faces  nil  showed  from  6'-8'  of  sand  cover,  and  then  good 
wash  and  lump  ore  to  the  bottom. 

The  lump  is  loaded  on  a  separate  wharf  and  shipped  di- 
rectly to  Pittsburgh.  Altogether  75,000  tons  have  been  a 
year's  product  here,  25,000  being  clear  lump  and  the  re- 
mainder passing  through  the  washers. 

64.  Gray1  s  farm.  Pits  have  been  sunk  40-50  rods  east 
on  to  P.  D.  Gray's  farm,  though  no  results  could  be  ob- 
tained of  their  success  or  failure. 

A  considerable  amount  of  ore  must  have  been  taken  in 
the  days  of  the  Centre  furnace  to  judge  from  the  size  of  this 
old  cut. 

Mr.  Bullion,  the  superintendent  at  the  mines,  claims  the 
average  run  of  the  washers  to  show  one  ton  of  clean  ore  to 
every  three  cubic  yards  of  material,  or  a  wash  of  about  one 
sixth,  allowing  a  cubic  yard  of  clean  ore  to  weigh  two  tons. 

The  loaded  cars  are  hauled  up  a  long  trestle  with  a  grade 
of  2'  in  100'  to  the  washers. 

These  latter  comprise  two  sets  of  three  26'  iron  cylinders 
armed  with  teeth.  Each  set  of  shafts  has  its  separate  en- 
gine, with  14"  cylinder  and  24"  stroke.  These  engines  may 
also  be  geared  to  run  the  screens,  of  which  there  are  two, 
one  for  each  washer. 

The  loaded  cars  are  run  in,  two  at  a  time,  on  to  a  revolv- 
ing platform,  where  the  clamped  cars  are  turned  over  180°, 
and  dump  their  material  on  to  inclined  grate  bars,  both  of 
which  features  differ  from  the  Juniata  plant. 

These  bars  are  about  \"  thick  and  are  set  3"  apart.  Small 
streams  of  water  play  on  them  automatically,  while  the 
material  is  being  raked  by  hand  and  the  larger  lumps  (flint 
and  ore)  removed. 

The  water  frequently  makes  the  clay  "ball  '  at  the  grates, 
and  prevents  the  rapid  passage  of  the  material,  and  I  ques- 
tion if  there  is  not  a  disadvantage  in  so  working,  instead  of 
passing  the  raw  stuff  through  dry. 

In  other  particulars  there  is  no  essential  difference  between 
the  arrangement  of  the  Scotia  and  Juniata  plant,  and  both 
are  models  of  their  kind. 


222  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIKRS. 


There  are  five  artesian  wells  on  the  proj)erty,  one  of  which 
is  nn productive 

One  of  these  is  located  near  the  mine  and  the  water  is 
conveyed  by  board  tubing  to  the  tank  at  the  washers.  Two 
others,  Nos.  I  and  2,  are  located  about  200'  from  plant,  and 
are  365'  deep,  with  a  standing  column  of  35'  of  water.  Nos. 
3  and  4,  not  far  distant,  are  400'  deep.  These  four  all  pump 
into  a  reservoir,  whence  the  water  is  forced  to  a  large  tank 
on  top  of  the  washer  for  distribution  to  various  parts  of  the 
works.  The  well  pumps  have  4^'  stroke  and  are  run  21 
strokes  per  minute. 

65.  The  Red  bank  is  further  south-west  and  close  to  the 
Half  Moon  line.  This  though  now  pretty  well  filled  up 
and  abandoned,  furnished  considerable  ore  to  Centre  fur- 
nace, and  is  reported  to  contain  still  a  large  body.  The  ore 
is  of  excellent  quality  and  will  no  doubt  receive  attention 
from  the  company  as  the  work  advances  in  that  direction. 

All  these  openings  were  sampled  by  Mr.  A.  S.  McCreath 
shortly  after  the  company  began  work,  and  his  results  are 
as  follows,  all  samples  being  dried  at  212°  F. 

No.  1.  Scotia  bank,  (Momson  cut).     Sample  135  pieces. 

No.  2.  Scotia  bank,  (Red  bank).     Sample  173  pieces. 

No.  3.  Scotia  bank,  (Irwincut).  Sample  495  pieces  clean 
lump. 

No.  4.  Scotia  bank,  Screened  wash  ore. 


Sesquioxide  of  iron  
"           '•  manganese,   . 
"           "  cobalt,  .... 
Alumina,  .   .   . 

(1) 

70.285 
.298 

1  765 

(2) 
75.357 

.485 

1  670 

(3) 
75.643 
.578 
.010 
851 

(4) 
64.821 
.392 
.030 
2973 

Lime,  

320 

250 

660 

650 

Magnesia,  .  
Sulphuric  acid,  
Phosphoric  acid, 

.418 
.140 
146 

.324 
.307 
191 

.136 
.235 
116 

.180 
.175 
116 

Water,  .  .  . 

10  404 

9  256 

9  g(59 

9  584 

Insoluble  matter, 

16.180 

12.050 

11.450 

20.730 

Total, 


Iron, 

Manganese, 

Sulphur, 

Phosphorus, 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron,    . 


.056 
.064 
.130 


52.750 


.163 


99.348 
52.950 


.094 
.051 


99.651 

45.375 
.273 
.070 
.051 
.112 


BARKENS  GROUP.  T4.  223 

These  analyses  show  these  ores  to  carry  a  low  enough 
percentage  of  phosphorus  to  fit  them  for  Bessemer  work. 

They  show  an  excellent  average  of  iron,  and  compare  ad- 
vantageously with  the  results  obtained  from  variousanalyses 
of  the  famous  Springfield  bank  in  Blair  county. 

The  improvements  made  in  the  washers  since  the  above 
samples  were  taken,  are  said  to  show  a  considerable  reduc- 
tion of  silica  or  insoluble  matter  in  the  washed  ore.  Com- 
paratively little  bomb  shell  ore  has  been  met  with  yet,  and 
the  presence  of  crystals  of  iron  pyrites  not  noted. 


About  1£  miles  north-east,  in  the  same  township,  and  at 
about  the  same  geological  and  topographical  position  as 
those  two  large  banks  just  described,  are  several  ore  banks 
in  the  "barrens"  which  have  enjoyed  a  splendid  reputa- 
tion for  their  ores  and  have  furnished  a  considerable  ton- 
nage to  the  old  Centre  furnace.  They  are  all  abandoned 
now,  but  the  early  completion  of  the  Bellefonteand  Buffalo 
Run  R.  R.,  whose  graded  line  is  branched  thus  far,  war- 
rants the  belief  that  this  whole  field  will  receive  such  atten- 
tion as  its  past  history  would  seem  to  warrant. 

66.  In  the  AcMey  bank,  the  first  of  these,  about  1400' 
above  tide,  as  marked  on  map,  quite  a  stunted  growth  of 
brush  is  visible.  Indeed,  so  much  have  these  old  banks 
been  changed  by  time  as  to  have  made  their  very  names 
the  subject  of  controversy  by  different  people,  and  their 
identification  on  the  part  of  a  stranger  a  matter  of  con- 
siderable difficulty.  No  ore  has  been  removed  from  here 
since  Centre  furnace  closed  in  18o8. 

The  pit  is  roughly  60'  E.  and  W.,  150'  K  and  S.,  and 
filled  up  with  mud  and  water  to  within  15'  of  surface. 

The  south  face  shows  some  ore  where  rain-water  had 
washed  down  the  clay  and  sand  ;  but  outside  of  this,  com 
paratively  little  of  this  highly  spoken  of  bank  is  not  covered 
by  a  thick  mass  of  sand  and  clay.  The  mine  was  consider- 
ably deeper  and  hard  lump  hematite  was  drifted  for.  It  is 
estimated  that  at  least  10,000  cubic  yards  of  material  have 
been  excavated  here.  The  ore  exposed  in  S.  E.  face  shows 


224  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIKRS. 

considerable  good-size  lump.  It  is  also  remarkably  clean 
and  free  from  the  sand  so  intimately  mixed  with  the  ore  at 
Scotia  and  Juniata. 

There  is  an  immense  screening  floor  here  as  well  as  at 
the  other  banks  in  the  "barrens,"  much  of  which  could  be 
advantageously  washed. 

67.  Carnegie  Bros.  &  Co.  had  an  option  on  considerable  ter- 
ritory hereabouts  in  connection  with  the  River  Hill  Iract^ 
and  the  evidences  of  their  numerous  test  holes  can  still  be 
seen.  These,  however,  were  all  lilled  in  by  agreement, 
and  no  record  of  them  could  be  obtained.  As  yet  no  great 
body  of  ore  such  as  that  spread  out  at  the  two  larger  mines 
has  been  defined  in  this  part  of  the  "barrens,"  the  openings 
being  largely  covered  with  sand  and  not  showing  much  sur- 
face outcrop. 

The  following  excellent  analysis  of  this  ore  by  Mr.  Mc- 
Creath  is  from  sample  of  110  pieces,  dried  at  212°  F.,  Sep- 
tember, 1881  : 

Sesquioxide  of  iron, 75.107 

"         "       "  manganese, 113 

Alumina, .927 

Lime, 480 

Magnesia, ,346 

Sulphuric  acid, .015 

Phosphoric  " .158 

Water 11.772 

Insoluble  matter, 11.410 

Total, 100.328 


Iron, 52.575 

Manganese, .079 

Sulphur 008 

Phosphorus,      .069 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron 131 

68.  The  Lytle  Bank,  1323'  A.  T.,  on  the  "Iron  Ore 
Tract"  of  Moses  Thompson,  is  about  i  mile  N.  E.  of  the 
Ackley  bank  and  rather  in  the  flat  than  on  the  side  hill. 
Work  has  long  since  been  stopped  here  also  and  the  cut 
filled  up  with  water  to  within  15'  feet  of  the  surface. 

The  wash  ore  along  the  south  and  west  faces  is  very  good. 


BARRENS  GROUP  T.  225 

The  north  face.shows  little  or  nothing  except  a  heavy  cov- 
ering of  sand,  and  the  east  face  is  not  cut  down  at  all,  be- 
ing left  for  the  teams  to  enter  the  bank.  The  cut  is 
about  100'  E.  and  W.  and  60'  N.  and  S. 

Only  lump  was  ta.ken  to  Centre  furnace  and  in  conse- 
quence a  large  screening  floor  marks  the  place  of  shipment. 
The  lump  ore  was  also  drifted  for  here. 

Some  of  Messrs.  Carnegie's  pits  (8  or  10)  were  located 
around  the  bank  and  the  open  ones  all  about  show  4'  of 
sand  cover  and  then  qre  and  clay  in  varying  proportions. 

The  following  is  Mr.  McCreath's  analysis  of  117  pieces  of 
ore  lying  around  bank,  dried  at  212°  F.,  Sept.,  1881: 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,      68.928 

"  manganese 226 

Alumina, 1.927 

Lime, 520 

Magnesia, 317 

Sulphuric  acid 027 

Phosphoric  acid, .249 

Water,       11.186 

Insoluble  matter, 16.510 

Total, 99.890 

Iron, 48.250 

Manganese, 158 

Sulphur,       Oil 

Phosphorus, ...       .109 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron,      226 

69.  Scott  bank,  on  the  same  property,  is  a  continuation 
200  yards  east  of  the  Lytle  opening  and  20  feet  lower. 
From  its  size  and  appearance  it  could  not  have  yielded  much 
ore.  It  shows  about  50  x  40  x  6  feet. 

The  sides  are  all  grass-grown.  Some  trial  pits  sunk  here 
show  fair  results  to  a  point  100'  north  of  bank,  beyond 
which  they  are  all  barren  and  sandy. 

The  ore  is  a  brown  and  yellow  hematite,  and  shows  some 
distinct  differences  from  the  ores  west,  due  no  doubt  to  the 
"barrens,"  becoming  less  sandy  and  more  calcareous. 

In  a  hole  60'  north  there  is  20'  of  excellent  reddish  ore. 


1ST4. 


226  T'.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'  INVILLIER3. 

South  of  Chestnut  ridge,  and  in  the  hollo.w  between  this 
anticlinal  and  the  short  Gatesburg  ridge,  there  seems  to  be 
another  ore  horizon,  occurring  somewhat  higher  than  the 
Scotia-Juniata  deposits,  but  hardly  developed  at  all  in  this 
county.  Its  ores  may  all  be  referred  to  the  "  barrens." 

70.  Whorrel  bank.  An  old  operation  formerly  existed 
on  lands  of  Pennsylvania  Furnace  Co.  about  400  yards 
from  L.  &  T.  R.  R.  and  west  of  Half  Moon  run,  1|  miles 
south-west  of  the  village  of  Gatesburg,  known  as  the  Whor- 
rel bank.  The  openings  here  were*  almost  entirely  closed 
up  by  debris  and  wash  from  the  sandy  "barrens,"  though 
the  outcrop  west  of  the  creek  was  considerable. 

Prof.  Lesley,  speaks  of  two  open  cuts  on  the  Gatesburg 
road,  showing  a  combined  excavation  in  1873  of  4400  cubic 
yards.  "Both  had  standing  water  in  the  bottom  and  wash 
ore  in  the  walls,  while  very  heavy  outcrops  appear  along 
the  road,  as  well  as  along  the  cross-road  leading  up  the  ridge 
north  to  Lovetown,  beyond  which  an  old  shaft  struck  the 
underlying  sand  rocks."  They  are  about  1190'  A.  T. 

The  double  excavation  to  the  south  showed  "30,000  cu. 
yds.,  separated  by  a  stratum  of  limestone  dipping  S.  30°  E. 
26°-50°,  the  ore  underlying,  overlying,  and  surrounding  one 
end  of  it.  The  wash  ore  in  the  side  walls  does  not  look 
rich."  Of  the  sample  selected  for  analysis  Dr.  Genth  says  : 

"Two  pieces  of  a  fine  brown  amorphous  ore  of  various 
shades,  between  yellowish  and  dark  brown  ;  some  portions 
showing  a  slight  pitchy  luster ;  the  greater  part  is  dull. 
,Has  a  strong  argillaceous  odor  when  breathed  upon." 

The  analysis  of  an  average  sample  gave  : 

Ferric  oxide,     69.71 

Manganic  oxide,     0.46 

Cobaltic  oxide, trace. 

Alumina, 3.37 

Magnesia, 0.08 

Lime, trace. 

Phosphoric  acid, 0  97 

Silicic  acid, 3.51 

Quartz 9.60 

Water,     12.30 

Total, 100.00 


BARRENS  GROUP.  T.4  227 

Metallic  iron, 48.80 

Phosphorus,      0.43 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron, 0.87 

This  bank  is  evidently  on  same  range  as  the  Wrye  bank 
in  Huntingdon  county  close  to  the  Centre  county  line. 


In  the  gap  in  Gatesburg  Ridge  along  Half  Moon  run  there 
is  a  good  show  of  wash  ore  (hematite)  along  road. 

Frequent  small  deposits  mark  the  road  to  Gatesburg, 
though  usually  accompanied  with  considerable  sand. 

At  the  cross  roads  at  the  village  limestone  is  apparently 
dipping  65°  to  N.  70°  W.  ;  blue  siliceous  harsh  stone  ac- 
companied with  ore. 

On  road  leading  over  Chestnut  Ridge  this  dip  soon 
changes  to  S.  12°  E.  20°  in  rather  argillaceous  limestone. 

The  road  cut  here  shows  a  fair  face  of  good  wash  ore  a 
short  distance  from  an  old  bank  close  to  roadside,  which 
formerly  furnished  ore  to  Pennsylvania  furnace. 

Gatesburg  ridge  is  only  about  5  miles  long  in  this 
county,  and  the  subsidence  of  the  anticlinal  which  caused 
it  has  produced  a  wide  rolling  sand  flat  between  the  longer 
Chestnut  and  Tad  Pole  ridges,  still  covered  to  a  great  ex- 
tent with  chestnut  and  oak  timber  and  stunted  pine 

71.  Two  miles  east  of  the  end  of  this  dying  ridge,  in  a 
somewhat  more  open  and  cultivated  country,  encourging 
outcrops  of  liver-colored  hematite  occur  in  the  McAllister, 
Garner,  Snyder,  Roop,  and  Grenoble  farms,  well  exposed  in 
the  latter  in  cut  of  B.,  &  B.  R.  R.  R. 

These  properties  are,  however,  all  undeveloped,  and  the 
surface  crop  is  considerably  mixed  with  clay  and  sand. 

South  of  Gatesburg,  along  road,  in  the  valley  of  Half 
Moon  run,  good  pipe  ore  has  been  taken  out  of  several  old 
pits  in  field  near  lime-kiln. 

Similar  ores  can  be  found  to  a  limited  extent  along  Tad 
Pole  run,  but  I  pass  now  from  these  to  the  south  side  of 
Sand  ridge. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Broion  hematite  ores  of  No. II ,  continued. 
F.     Pennsylvania  furnace  and  College  groups. 

72.  The  Bryson  cut  or  old  Pennsylvania  ore  bank,  for 
over  half  a  century  furnished  Pennsylvania  furnace  on  the 
Huntingdon  county  line  with  stock,  which  was  mainly  in- 
strumental in  making  the  superior  reputation  of  Pennsyl- 
vania iron. 

Like  so  many  other  banks  in  the  county,  work  was  en- 
tirely abandoned  during  the  season  of  1883,  so  that  for 
much  of  the  information  which  follows  I  am  indebted  to 
Mr.  George  Lyon,  who  visited  the  bank  with  me,  and  the 
voluminous  account  of  this  old  operation  in  Prof.  Lesley's 
report  before  mentioned. 

A  lease  of  this  property  was  consummated  late  in  the 
fall  to  some  Pittsburgh  parties,  who  intended  mining  and 
smelting  ore  here  at  the  reconstructed  Pennsylvania  fur- 
nace. 

The  developments  are  all  on  the  south  side  of  the  Sand 
or  Tad  Pole  ridge  anticlinal,  a  continuation  of  Spruce  Creek 
ridge  in  Huntingdon  county. 

The  Hostler  ore  bank  of  Huntingdon  county  is  referred  to 
the  same  horizon  as  the  Bryson  bank  by  Prof.  Lesley,  oc- 
curring in  rocks  of  the  middle  division  of  the  limestone 
series  of  No.  II,  and  about  2500  feet  below  the  slates  of  III. 
The  Hostler  bank,  however,  occurs  on  the  north  side  of 
this  anticlinal  ridge  in  Cale  Hollow,  and  shows  steeply  N. 
W.  dipping  rocks  in  various  parts  of  the  opening. 

The  Pennsylvania  (Bryson)  cut,  on  the  other  hand,  shows 

(229  T*.) 


230  T4.     EEPOKT  OF  PEOGEESS.      E.  V.  D'lZSTVILLIEES. 

everywhere  south-east  dipping  sandy  dolomites  averaging 
40°,  succeeded  southward  by  white  and  blue  limestones  and 
finally,  along  the  base  of  Tussey  the  soft,  dove  and  blue 
limestones  of  the  Trenton  group,  dipping  gently  (15°  to  18°) 
under  the  Hudson  river  slates  of  III. 

The  Bryson  bank  ores  are  essentially  pipe,  finely  disinte- 
grated, and  occurring  in  every  conceivable  form,  whether 
in  streaks  of  ore  and  clay,  or  in  flattened  scales,  or  bunched 
with  sandy  limestone,  or  in  solid  pipe  masses  ;  but  every- 
where showing  a  tendency  to  interstratification  and  point- 
ing to  their  probable  formation  in  place  by  the  dissolution 
and  leaching  of  the  limestone  rocks  and  the  filling  in  of 
cavities  with  mixed  sand,  clay  and  iron  ore.  Comparatively 
little  lime  has  been  left  in  this  ore,  showing  how  thorough 
this  solution  has  been,  and  the  percentage  of  magnesia, 
though  low,  is  probably  due  to  its  less  solubility  as  com- 
pared with  corresponding  lime  salt. 

Very  little  of  the  quartz  and  flint  grains  found  with  the 
ore  are  water-worn  or  rounded,  and  so  create  at  once  a 
marked  difference  between  these  ores  and  those  of  the  bar- 
rens in  the  Scotia- Juniata  range.  But  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  these  latter  ores  are  much  lower  down  in  the 
measures.  When  visited  in  July,  1883,  no  work  had  been 
done  here  since  the  fall  of  1882,  when  Carnegie  Bros.  &  Co. 
returned  their  lease  of  the  property. 

Much  information  concerning  the  appearance  of  this  de- 
posit is  con  tained  in  Prof.  Lesley' s  report.  (See  Appendix. ) 
The  present  contour  of  the  bank  is  but  little  changed  since 
he  sketched  it  in  1873-4. 

The  Messrs.  Carnegie,  while  doing  some  little  mining  in 
the  old  workings  south  of  the  washer,  turned  most  of  their 
attention  to  the  development  of  the  New  bank  located  east 
of  the  former  and  shown  on  map. 

About  10  acres  in  all  have  been  disturbed  here. 

Various  estimates  have  been  made  by  different  parties  of 
the  original  amount  of  ore  contained  in  this  deposit  (which 
roughly  measured  may  be  taken  at  500  yards  N.  W.  and  S. 
E.,  and  350  yards  N".  E.  and  S.  W.),  which  vary  from  200,- 
000  tons  up  to  600,000  tons,  with  a  possible  output  of  even 


PENNA-   FURNACE  AND  COLLEGE  GROUPS.        T4.  231 

1,000,000  tons,  allowing  for  increased  depths  over  50  feet, 
etc.  All  such  estimates  are  greatly  affected  by  the  frequent 
occurrence  of  limestone  ledges,  clay  banks  and  lean  faces, 
and  are  in  every  case  when  carried  beyond  the  depth  of  the 
wash  deposit  and  into  the  solid  pipes  in  the  bottom,  merely 
speculative. 

The  average  wash  of  the  material  is  about  1  to  8  or  9, 
which  will  give  1  ton  of  ore  to  each  6  or  7  cubic  yards  of 
material,  a  cubic  yard  of  ore  being  estimated  to  weigh  only 
1£  tons. 

The  washers  occasionally  showed  a  record  of  1  to  5,  but 
this  was  when  mining  was  being  carried  on  in  exceptional 
ground. 

The  majority  of  the  more  recent  pits  (some  outside  the 
limits  above  given)  show  a  depth  of  only  about  10'  of  wash 
ore,  under  which  clay  and  limestone  occur. 

Dr.  Genth  recognizes  three  varieties  of  limestone  in  this 
bank,  and  the  results  of  his  analyses  are  as  follows  ; 

(i)  (2)  (3) 

Carbonate  of  iron, 1.31  0.45  .118 

"            "  manganese, 0.18  0.06  trace. 

"            "  magnesia, 3.98  42.39  35.51 

"            «  lime,      72.67  51.25  45.73 

Quartz  and  silicic  acid, 18.05  5.03  15.83 

Alumina, 3.81  0.82  1.75 

Total 100.00  100.00  100.00 


Metallic  iron, 0.63  0.22  0.57 

Magnesia, 1.90  20. 19  16.91 

Lime 40.69  28.70  25.61 

No.  1.  Upper  limestone,  dark  gray,  compact,  slightly 
crystalline.  The  atomic  ratio  between  magnesia  and  lime 
is  1 : 15. 

No.  2.  Pale  ash  gray,  very  finely  crystalline,  rough  to 
the  touch  like  rotten  stone,  very  friable  and  easily  falling 
to  powder.  Atomic  ratio  between  magnesia  and  lime  is 
1 : 1 — a  true  dolomite. 

No.  3.  Yellowish  gray,  soft,  rotten,  feels  rough  to  the 
touch,  sandy ;  crystalline ;  has  a  laminated  structure. 
Atomic  ratio  between  magnesia  and  lime  is  .1  : 108 — also  a 
dolomite. 


232  T4.      REPOKT  OF  PROGKESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

No.  3  is  the  most  prevalent  variety  in  the  bank  and  it  was 
probably  the  use  of  this  stone  for  flux  that  gave  such  poor 
results  in  the  furnace  working. 

Mr.  Lyon  states  that  the  old  charcoal  plant  was  changed 
to  a  coke  furnace  with  II'  bosh,  43'  high  and  8'  at  tunnel 
head.  Its  record  during  Messrs.  Carnegie's  blast,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Lyon,  was  unsuccessful,  owing  to  the  use  of 
poor  grade  and  carelessly  washed  ores — the  better  grades 
being  shipped  to  Pittsburg — and  poor  limestone,  so  that  it 
was  a  long  time  before  any  iron  was  drawn  from  the  metal 
hole  at  all,  passing  over  mostly  with  the  cinder. 

That  company  likewise  abandoned  the  incline  plane 
shown  in  diagram,  and  substituted  a  narrow-guage  road 
running  around  the  edge  of  the  deposit,  and  reaching  the 
washers  by  a  considerable  grade. 

In  1881  it  was  estimated  that  the  two  washers  would  clean 
140  tons  of  ore  daily,  allowing  for  good,  rich  wash. 

The  new  washer  erected  by  the  Carnegies  consisted  of  a 
trough  25'  long  and  about  10'  wide,  divided  lengthwise  into 
three  compartments  in  which  revolved  hexagonal  shafts 
plated  with  iron  and  armed  with  iron  teeth. 

The  wash  material  was  dumped  through  a  hopper  in  the 
trestle  railway  on  to  the  first  shaft,  which  was  slightly 
raised  above  the  others,  into  which  was  conveyed  the 
stream  of  wash  water. 

The  ore  material  was  carried  along  the  first  shaft  to  the 
opposite  end,  where  an  aperture  oh  one  side  admitted  it  to 
the  second  and  in  like  manner  to  the  third. 

From  the  third  shaft  it  passed  on  to  a  revolving  screen 
with  I"  mesh,  and  thence  to  a  jigging  machine  for  the  pur- 
pose of  removing  the  flint. 

The  great  difficulty  was  met  with  here  owing  to  the  slight 
difference  in  specific  gravity  between  this  light  pipe  ore  and 
flint.  Moreover,  much  of  the  ore  occurs  in  flat,  plate-like 
scales,  which,  receiving  the  force  of  the  water  in  the  jigs  on 
their  under  surface,  tended  to  keep  them  suspended  suffi- 
ciently long  to  float  them  off  with  the  flint. 

To  obviate  this,  the  screened  material  was  dropped  on  to 


PENNA.  FURNACE  AND  COLLEGE  GROUPS.        T4.  233 

four  flat  platform  cars  about  8'  square,  where  the  flint  was 
picked  by  boys. 

The  washers  were  run  by  a  separate  engine,  the  hoisting 
power  being  furnished  by  a  double  Worthington  engine. 

The  deepest  part  of  the  old  bank  has  been  nearly  ex- 
hausted of  cheap  ore,  and  shows  several  outcrops  of  siliceous 
sandy  dolomite,  very  much  broken,  but  dipping  south-east. 
This  rock  is  frequently  ore-bearing,  showing  occasionally 
streaks  from  /&•  to  several  inches  thick. 

While  occurring  in  the  center  of  the  deposit,  they  do  not 
seem  to  have  affected  the  ore  which  occurs  above  and  below 
them  and  frequently  iriterstratified  with  them. 

Some  30  to  60  feet  of  stripping  has  been  done  here,  but 
shafts  sunk  from  the  bottom  of  the  open  cut  30-40  feet 
deeper  have  proved  the  presence  of  good  ore  ground  as  yet 
untouched.  In  the  days  of  early  mining  here  fine  expos- 
ures of  pipes  40'  high  are  reported,  though  none  such  are  to 
be  seen  to-day. 

The  best  ground,  when  last  visited  seemed  to  be  along  the 
south  side  of  the  new  workings,  where  really  excellent 
wash  ore  still  remained  untouched  in  a  face  30'  high.  Good 
lump  ore  is  reported  all  along  the  bottom  of  these  workings, 
now  covered  with  line  silt  and  mud,  and  in  any  future  work 
this  should  be  mined  with  the  wash  surface  ore  or  that  in 
the  east  end,  thus  making  a  cheap  and  rich  average  ore. 

All  the  work  so  far  has  been  done  above  ground,  the  floor 
being  usually  limestone. 

The  steam  excavator  was  also  tried  here  for  a  short  time, 
but  was  not  economical,  owing  to  the  frequent  occurrence 
of  limestone  faces. 

To  be  worked  profitably,  this  machine  requires  a  smooth 
face  of  ore,  free  from  rocky  boulders  or  limestone  faces,  and 
about  15'  high.  These  conditions  are  not  apt  to  occur  even 
in  the  most  favorable  pipe-ore  deposits,  and  so  far  as  the 
efficiency  of  the  machine  in  these  ores  is  concerned,  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  ore  can  be  more  cheaply  mined 
by  hand.  A  nose  of  limestone  is  not  only  a  barrier  to  the 
progress  of  the  machine,  but  it  involves  considerable  ex- 


234  T*.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

pense  in  necessitating  the  shifting  of  the  excavator  to  avoid 
the  rock. 

And  if  this  be  true  of  the  surface  pipe  ore  deposits,  it 
becomes  all  the  more  an  item  of  importance  when  a  depth  is 
is  reached  where  these  ores  become  interstratified  with  the 
limestone  rocks. 

For  some  reason  this  ore  bank  was  not  sampled  by  Mr. 
McCreath  when  he  visited  the  various  mines  in  the  county 
during  1881.  but  Dr.  Genth's  analyses  in  Prof.  Lesley's  re- 
port will  give  some  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  ore. 

(i)  (2)  (3) 

Ferric  oxide,    .   .   . 81.55  83.74  43.65 

Manganese  oxide, 0.10  0.31  > 

Cobaltic  oxide trace.  trace.  \     ' 

Alumina, 1.49  0.33  2.43 

Magnesia, 0.47  0.34  1.64 

Lime, trace.  trace.  0.12 

Phosphoric  acid, 0.16  0.14  0.27 

Silicic  acid, 2.98  2.57  5.19 

Quartz, 1.55  0.44  36.52 

Water, 11.70  12.13  8.63 

Total, 100.00  100.00  100.00 


Metallic  iron, 57.10  58.62  30.56 

Phosphorus,      0.07  0.06  0.12 

Phosporous  in  100  parts  ^ron,    .   .       0.12  0.10  0.39 

No.  1.  Average  of  two  samples.  Amorphous  brown  com- 
pact ore  mixed  with  ochreous  yellowish  or  reddish  ore  ; 
porous,  some  of  the  cavities  lined  with  a  very  fine  coating 
of  fibrous  ore. 

No.  2.  Amorphous  porous  ore,  in  columnar  masses,  the 
cavities  filled  with  ferruginous  clay. 

No.  3.  Sand  rock. 

Being  hand  samples,  these  analyses  do  not  of  course 
show  what  may  be  expected  in  actual  average  mining. 

No.  3  is  apparently  the  sandstone  referred  to  holding 
thin  streaks  of  ore  and  occurring  in  the  body  of  the  deposit. 

An  additional  analysis  of  this  ore  by  Edward  Riley,  F. 
C.  S.,  an  English  chemist,  made  in  1871  gave:— 


PENN  A.  FURNACE  AND  COLLEGE  GROUPS.        T.  235 

Silica, 10.84 

Peroxide  of  iron, 78.18 

Protoxide  of  iron 75 

Alumina, 2.51 

Oxide  of  manganese, trace. 

Carbonate  of  lime 20 

"         "  magnesia, 1.20 

Phosphoric  acid, 17 

Combined  water,* 9.09 

Moisture, 1.81 

Sulphur, 05 


Total, 


Metallic  iron, 51.81 


North-east  through  Ferguson  township  for  eight  miles  to 
the  group  of  banks  south  of  the  State  College  various  sur- 
face outcrops  of  ore  show  in  the  different  farms  along  the 
south  flank  of  the  Spruce  creek  or  Sand  ridge  anticlinal. 

All  evidences  of  this  arch  are  lost  approaching  the  College 
township  line. 

The  succeeding  synclinal  of  Nittany  mountain  has  no  op- 
posing anticlinal  in  Ferguson  township,  the  Penn's  valley 
axis  having  died  away  against  the  mountain  west  of  Boals- 
burg,  so  that  Tussey  on  the  south  and  the  valley  north  to 
the  Sand  ridge  show  only  south-east  dips. 

These  points  must  be  understood  in  tracing  out  the  ore 
belts  in  this  part  of  the  valley. 

And  just  here  it  may  be  pertinent  to  add  that  while  it  has 
not  been  found  possible  to  follow  any  one  ore  range  unin- 
terruptedly for  long  distances  lengthwise  of  the  valley,  yet 
deposits  in  that  line  are  so  frequent  as  to  warrant  their  ar- 
rangement in  ranges  for  convenience  of  description. 

The  anticlinals  which  have  brought  these  ore  deposits  to 
daylight  are  accented  like  waves  of  the  sea,  and  are  alter- 
nately rising  and  falling  along  the  line  of  their  trend. 

Erosion,  likewise,  has  played  its  part  in  interrupting  con- 
nection, so  that  no  broad  statement  affecting  the  connection 
of  ore  deposits  through  wide  areas  is  possible. 

Nearly  every  farm  from  the  Huntingdon  county  line  to 
the  State  College  along  the  flank  of  the  Sand  ridge  shows  ore 


236  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNYILLIERS. 

indications,  none  of  which  have  been  developed  to  any  ex- 
tent, owing  to  the  large  interest  at  Pennsylvania  furnace. 

70.  Thus  1^  miles  N.  E.  of  the  Bryson  bank  some  few 
pits  have  been  sunk  in  a  pipe-ore  deposit  on  KecJiline1 s 
lower  farm. 

In  a  quarry  at  his  house  north  of  the  ore  outcrop,  dolo- 
mitic  limestone  dips  S.  40°  E.  32°. 

The  ore  show  is  not  very  encouraging,  nor  is  what  there 
is  of  it  very  rich. 

71.  The  crop  at  Campbell's  and  Alice's  farms  is  rather 
better,  but  the  ore  lies  too  high  on  the  limestone  ridge  to 
warrant  a  belief  in  much  depth  to  it.     It  is,  moreover,  very 
flinty. 

72.  At  John  Bailey'1  s  pieces  of  good  lump  ore  are  fre- 
quently turned  up  in   ploughing,  but  no  pits  have  been 
sunk  here  at  all.     The  ore  exposed  at  present  is  mainly 
confined  to  the  gullies  washed  out  of  the  limestone  ridge. 

73.  At  Kustaribauter* s  all  of   the  six  pits   sunk  have 
been  placed  high  upon  the  flank  of  Sand  ridge. 

The  deepest  one  and  the  highest  on  the  ridge  is  about  20' 
deep,  and  shows  2'-4'  of  soil  and  the  rest  fair  wash  ore. 

Two  other  pits  show  about  15'  of  wash  ore. 

There  is  some  little  ore  outcrop  higher  up  the  crest,  but 
the  show  is  very  lean  and  unimportant. 

The  ore  in  the  Kustanbauter  pits  lies  nearer  the  surface 
than  it  does  in  the  cove  to  the  south,  which  probably  ac- 
counts for  their  location. 

The  ore  will  wash  about  1  in  9  or  10. 

74.  In  Kecliline1  s  fields,  especially  towards  N.  E.  in  the 
cove  at  the  south  base  of  Sand  ridge,  there  is  an  abundant 
showing  of  hematite  ore  mixed  with  a  little  large  lump  pipe 
ore. 

The  land  lies  pretty  high  and  is  devoid  of  water. 

The  ore  lies  mostly  in  the  cove  running  parallel  to  the 
Whitehall  road,  and  about  -|  mile  north  of  it. 

In  addition  to  what  few  pits  Kechline  has  put  down,  the 
Carnegies  did  some  little  prospecting. 


PENNA.  FURXACE  AND  COLLEGE  GROUPS.        T4.  237 

These  were  mostly  located  on  the  high  ground  south  of 
the  cove,  and  all  struck  solid  limestone  in  short  distances. 

The  deposit  is  about  500  yards  wide,  outside  measure- 
ment, and  extends  through  three  fields  covering  8  or  10 
acres,  with  good  surface  ore,  some  of  it  in  large  lump. 

It  cannot  be  called  a  clean  one,  having  received  consid- 
erable wash  from  the  high  ground  on  each  side  of  it,  and 
so  little  systematic  work  has  been  done  here  that  the  value 
of  the  deposit  is  entirely  a  matter  for  future  investigation. 
The  deepest  shaft  is  about  30'  and  records  12'  of  surface 
dirt,  and  18'  of  ore  to  the  limestone. 

The  ore  is  liver-colored  and  is  said  to  resemble  the  Kerr 
and  Bredin  ore  in  Huntingdon  county. 

There  is  certainly  an  excellent  show  for  ore  here  if  it  lies 
deep.  Limestone  dips  S.  20°  E.  30°  on  land  near  Kech- 
line's  house. 

75.  The  Miller  farm,  next  N.  E.  of  Kechline's,  against 
Sand    Ridge,   claims   ore,    but    no  prospecting    has  been 
done. 

76.  Through  the  Harper  farm  to  Weaver's  there  are  also 
good  surface  indications,  but  all  the  ores  in  this  part  of  the 
range  seem  to  lie  low,  owing,  probably,  to  the  sinking  of 
the  anticlinal  which  raised  them,  to  the  S.  W. 

77.  North-east  of  the  school-house  at  M.   Weaver's,  and 
just  north  of,  but  close  to,  the  Whitehall  road,  the  surface 
is  strewn  with  a  mass  of  ore,  flinty  in  a  great  measure,  but 
spread  over  a  great  area  and  promising. 

It  is  probably  a  finely  divided  pipe  ore,  which  is  cut  out 
north-west  by  a  low  and  narrow  limestone  ridge,  beyond 
which  another  show  of  ore  comes  in,  extending  thence  in 
patches  N.  W.  for  several  hundred  yards. 

A  small  bank  was  opened  up  several  years  ago  in  the 
field  where  the  deposit  was  richest,  and  a  small  amount  of 
ore  removed. 

The  quality  of  the  deep  ore  could  not  be  ascertained 
owing  to  a  filling  in  of  the  old  "pits. 

Weaver  states  that  the  limestone  is  30'  under  the  sur- 
face at  this  place,  and  the  interval  is  all  good  wash  ore. 


238  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

If  true,  the  place  should  be  thoroughly  tested,  for  there 
is  a  broad  outcrop  here  300  or  400  yards  wide  and  fully  as 
long  N.  E.  and  S.  W. 

Weaver  sank  a  few  trial  pits  near  the  edge  of  field  where 
the  surface  is  lean  and  flinty.  These  pits  showed  a  great 
deal  of  clay  and  but  little  ore. 

78.  The  outcrop  is  more  or  less  continuous  on  to  H.  Sny- 
der's  fields,  but  seems  leaner  there,  located  about  1£  miles 
K".  W.  Pinegrove. 

A  short  distance  N.  E.  from  here,  and  probably  8  miles 
from  Pennsylvania  furnace,  and  at  the  present  terminus  of 
the  Bellefonte  and  Buffalo  run  railroad,  is  the 

79.  Johnson  bank.    This  opening  is  located  2  miles  S.  "W. 
of  the  State  College,  on  land  of  Martin  Brumgord,  and  is 
leased  to  Brown,  McMullen,  Divens  &  Co.,  comprising  the 
Mttany  Valley  Mining  Co. 

Ex-Judge  Divens  directs  the  mining  of  ore  here. 

The  old  cut  was  originally  worked  for  Centre  furnace, 
which  used  only  the  lump  ore.  The  refuse  on  the  screening 
floor  has  been  profitably  washed  by  the  present  company. 

A  small  cut  has  been  made  in  one  face  of  this  old  pit, 
which  shows  excellent  hematite  lump  ore,  (probably  1  to  3, ) 
but  getting  below  water  in  the  pond  they  were  soon 
swamped. 

The  present  lessees  have  confined  themselves  mainly  to 
the  new  workings  N.  E.  of  the  engine-house,  though  when 
last  seen  the  developments  were  meager. 

Mining  was  commenced  under  a  belief  in  the  early  com- 
pletion of  the  B.  &  B.  R.  R.  R.,  and  as  a  result  about  1000 
tons  of  excellent  well  washed  hematite  lay  on  the  dump 
awaiting  shipment  (August,  1883).  " 

Little  or  no  pipe  ore  has  been  found  with  the  hematite, 
which  is  usually  a  dark,  liver-colored  amorphous  hematite 
similar  to  the  Streuble  ore  to  be  afterwards  described. 

The  ore  itself  is  rather  flinty  and  cold-short. 

Close  to  the  engine-house  on  the  east  side  of  the  farm 
lane  a  pit  was  opened  150'  x  SO'  x  18'. 

A  shaft  30'  deep  has  been  carried  down  at  the  south  end 


PENNA.  FURNACE  AND  COLLEGE  GROUPS.        T.  239 

of  the  excavation,  12'  being  covered  with  water  and  the 
other  18'  showing  an  excellent  face  of  wash  ore  from  top 
down.  This  will  certainly  wash  1  in  4. 

Another  shaft  was  sunk  further  north  in  this  pit  with  an 
idea  of  draining  the  first.  This  has  been  apparently  suc- 
cessful, though  limestone  was  struck  at  about  5',  dipping 
S.  E. 

The  east  side  of  this  pit  shows  a  bunch  of  white  clay,  cut- 
ting out  the  ore,  but  which  seems  to  be  limited  in  extent. 

Plans  have  been  made  for  settling  ponds  in  the  hollow  50 
yards  N.  VV.  towards  the  road,  where  the  surface,  while 
showing  fair  prospects,  is  decidedly  more  flinty. 

Numerous  prospect  shafts  have  been  sunk  in  the  field  to 
the  X.  E.,  E.,  and  S.  E.  of  the  main  pit,  from  4  to  12  feet 
deep,  all  of  which  show  from  4'  to  8'  of  wash  ore  and  clay 
of  profitable  richness.  These  have  been  carried  100  yards 
cast  from  the  pit,  and  certainly  indicate  the  deepest  part  of 
the  deposit  to  lie  in  a  N.  80°  E.  direction  towards  I.  Carl's 
farm. 

Proceeding  south-east  the  deposit  shoaled  up  rapidly, 
until  just  where  hill  slopes  down  towards  the  valley  at  Pine 
Grove,  limestone  crops  at  the  surface,  cutting  off  the  ore. 

The  whole  field  north  of  this  however,  is  covered  with 
ore,  giving  the  company  a  superficial  area  of  about  100  acres. 

The  company  Has  likewise  leased  the  Carl  property  to  the 
east,  where  however,  little  or  no  prospecting  has  been  done. 

No  record  has  been  kept  of  the  average  run  of  the  washers, 
though  they  claim  to  be  able  to  make  60  tons  of  clean  ore 
daily. 

There  is  an  excellent  forty-horse-power  engine,  pumping 
water  from  a  176'  well  with  46'  column  of  water,  and  also  fur- 
nishing power  for  the  washing-machines. 

There  is  an  excellent  tubular  boiler  with  a  capacity  of 
2100  gallons  and  with  a  large  heating  surface. 

South-west  some  favorable  indications  were  seen,  but  all 
in  spots  and  quite  flinty. 

Mr.  McCreath  sampled  this  ore  fcank  in  Sept.,  1881,  just 
after  the  present  company  began  mining,  and  the  following 
is  the  result  of  his  analysis  of  109  pieces  dried  at  212°  F. 


240  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Sesquioxide  of  iron, 65.785 

"  "  manganese, 723 

"  "  cabalt, 080 

Oxide  of  zinc, 010 

Alumina, 1.630 

Lime,      1.110 

Magnesia, 389 

Sulphuric  acid 067 

Phosphoric  "          455 

Water, 9.620 

Insoluble  matter, 20.420 

Total, 100.269 


Iron, 46.050 

Manganese, .504 

Sulphur, 027 

Phosphorus, 199 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron,      432 

The  ore  costs  about  $1  to  mine,  and  being  more  carefully 
prepared  now,  will  no  doubt  show  better  than  the  above 
analysis. 

80.  TJie  Streuble  Bank,  on  land  of  C.  H.  Streuble  and  Sons, 
is  about  £  a  mile  north  of  Johnson's  mine,  on  north  side 
of  the  Whitehall  road,  and  1  mile  S.  W.  of  the  State  Col- 
lege. It  is  entirely  in  limestone,  at  the  east  end  of  the 
Sand  ridge  anticlinal,  though  slightly  on  the  south  flank. 
The  developments  here  consist  of  two  pits  ;  the  old  one, 
worked  many  years  ago  for  Centre  furnace,  lies  about  25 
yards  east  of  the  new  one. 

The  former  shows  a  pit  about  100'  E.  and  W.,  80'  N.  and 
S.  and  about  30'  deep.  All  the  ore  taken  from  here  was 
surface  wash  ore,  rather  flinty  and  used  at  the  old  Centre 
furnace.  The  refuse  fine  ore  from  the  old  screenings  was 
deposited  where  the  new  pit  is  now  opened,  and  lies  about 
4'  thick  over  the  surface. 

From  the  bottom  of  the  old  pit  a  shaft  was  put  down, 
which  will  illustrate  what  may  be  expected  in  deposits  of 
this  character.  Its  record  shows  30'  of  wash  ore  in  fine 
lumps  and  clay  washing  1  to  4  or  5  ;  18"of  sand  and  clay,  and 
14'  through  hard  lump  rock  ore  of  a  reddish-brown  color 
to  the  bottom.  The  thickness  of  this  latte1  stratum  has  not 
been  determined,  as  it  presents  in  the  shaft  a  solid  mass  of 


PENNA.  FURNACE  AND  COLLEGE  GROUPS.        T.  241 

ore  exceedingly  hard  and  requiring  blasting,  so  that  work 
in  it  was  abandoned  until  the  completion  of  the  railroad 
here. 

From  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  drifts  were  extended  about 
4'  each  way  N.  and  S.,  and  one  east  for  10'  through  the 
ore  bed,  from  which  point  gangways  were  driven  15'  each 
way  parallel  to  the  first  drifts.  A  couple  of  hundred  tons 
of  this  ore  have  been  raised  here,  and,  while  more  costly 
to  mine,  its  increased  richness  and  freedom  from  wash  ma- 
terial will  make  it  advantageous  to  work  simultaneously 
with  the  surface  deposit. 

The  new  pit  is  shallow,  not  being  anywhere  over  15'  deep, 
and  a  section  of  the  east  face  gave  2'  mixed  sand  and  fine 
clay,  4'  of  old  refuse  fine  ore  screenings,  and  the  rest  (9 
feet)  good  wash  ore. 

The  present  outline  (July,  1883)  of  the  pit  covers  about 
£  acre  of  ground,  though  the  surface  indications  extend 
over  a  much  larger  area. 

Indeed,  the  whole  field,  extending  south  to  the  road  and 
east  to  B.  Carl's  place,  is  capable  of  judicious  washing 
from  5'  to  10',  at  any  rate,  though  considerably  mixed 
with  flinty  material  towards  the  public  road. 

The  new  bank  was  opened  in  the  summer  of  1881,  and,, 
during  the  two  years  ensuing,  6000  tons  of  clean  ore  have- 
been  made.  Both  pits  had  been  idle  when  last  seen  since 
the  winter  of  1882-83. 

Philadelphia  parties  have  recently  leased  this  land 
at  40  cents  per  ton  royalty,  and  active  measures  were 
being  taken  in  the  fall  of  1883  towards  thoroughly  equip- 
ping these  banks  for  a  large  production. 

The  machinery  at  the  mine  consisted  of  a  double  26' 
washer,  octagonal  wooden  shafts  braced  with  iron  and 
armed  with  iron  teeth,  a  40-horse-power  engine  for  both 
pumping  and  washing,  and  an  excellent  well  220'  deep  with 
112'  standing  column  of  water. 

The  ore  is  of  good  quality,  and,  in  addition  to  the  de- 
veloped area,  many  test  shafts  have  been  sunk  by  the 
16  T4 


242  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Messrs.   S trouble,  which  warrant  a  belief  in  an  extensive 
outcrop  on  this  flat. 

Very  little,  if  any,  pipe  ore  has  been  found  here,  which 
seems  strange  considering  the  geological  position  of  this 
bank  in  the  limestone  of  II ;  and  most  of  the  ore  washed 
shows  a  dark  brown  amorphous  ore,  compact,  and  with  ju- 
dicious preparation  yielding  45  to  50  per  cent,  of  iron.  The 
absence  of  manganese  and  the  low  amount  of  phosphorous 
in  the  rock  ore  (see  analysis  below)  is  to  be  noted. 

Direct  railroad  communication  with  Bellefonte  (18  miles) 
is  assured  by  the  construction  of  the  B.  &  B.  R.  R.,  the  ore 
having  the  advantage  of  an  average  down  grade  of  25  feet 
per  mile.  The  elevation  above  tide  at  the  bank  is  1172. 

The  following  analyses  will  show  the  general  character  of 
the  ore : 

No.  1,  A.  S.  McCreath,  15  Ibs.  of  wash  ore,  Sept.,  1881. 
Dried  at  212°  F. 

No.  2,  John  I.  Thompson,  sample  from  wash  ore  pile,  July 
30,  1881. 

No.  3,  John  I.  Thompson,  lump  ore  from  shaft, 
(i.) 

Sesquioxide  of  iron, 63.642 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese, .195 

Alumina, 1.826 

Lime,       290 

Magnesia, 544 

Sulphuric  acid, 060 

Phosphoric  acid, .263 

Water,     10.212 

Insoluble  residue, 22  980 


Total, .    10D.012 


Metallic  iron, 44.550 

Metallic  manganese, 136 

Sulphur,      .024 

Phosphorus 115 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron, .258 

(2.)  (3.) 

Water,     11>46  15t090 

Silina,         1 1651  8.660 

Alumina,    I                                                                       -80  .279 

Lime,          [Insoluble  residue, lg  Q35 

Magnesia,  ) 06  .011 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,  ....                                      70.240  76.000 


PENNA.   FURNACE  AND  COLLEGE  GROUPS.         T*.  243 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese, .224  trace. 

Alumina, 043  .279 

Sulphur, 014  .013 

Phosphoric  acid 291  .091 

Total,    .  99.822  100.179 


Iron,      49.17  53.20 

Phosphorus, 127  .039 

81.  Blair  and  Cooper  banks.  These  are  two  old  and  long 
abandoned  pits  on  the  Whipple  farm,  (formerly  P.  Lytle,) 
in  College  township,  in  the  synclinal  of  Nittany  mountain, 
just  south  of  the  State  College,  and  east  of  the  Streuble  and 
Johnson  mines. 

The  extent  of  these  excavations  is  pretty  well  obscured 
now,  not  having  been  worked  for  20  years  ;  but  two  or  three 
thousand  tons  of  lump  ore  were  screened  here  between 
1660-1865. 

The  ore  crop  is  first  noticed  about  300  yards  north-west  of 
Whipple' s  house.  Some  pits  have  been  recently  sunk  here, 
one  of  which,  30'  deep,  shows  good  wash  ore  throughout, 
with  the  exception  of  a  thin  band  of  white  clay  coming  in 
12'  below  the  surface. 

The  ore  is  similar  to  the  Johnson  and  Streuble  deposit, 
being  a  heavy,  liver-colored  hematite,  with  but  little  signs  of 
pipe  structure.  The  outcrop  shows  fairly  well,  and  though 
narrow,  (75  yards  wide  N.  and  S.,)  it  can  be  pretty  well  fol- 
lowed for  a  considerable  distance  (400  yards  N.  W.  and 
S.  E.)  along  line  of  strike. 

Blair  bank.  One  hundred  yards  S.  W.  of  30'  shaft 
there  is  an  old,  grass-grown  opening  close  to  the  Ferguson 
line,  which  probably  marks  the  position  of  the  old  Blair 
bank. 

The  pit  is  50'  x  25'  x  4',  and  a  recent  opening  here  yielded 
some  excellent  lump  ore.  Quite  a  considerable  amount  of 
screenings  covers  the  surface  here. 

Prospecting  is  too  limited  here  to  permit  of  any  judgment 
as  to  quality  or  amount,  but  the  surface  show  warrants  fur- 
ther development.  The  elevation  of  the  bank  is  about  90' 
above  Lemont. 


244  T4.      REPOKT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

The  Cooper  bank'lies  further  N.  E.  (see  map,)  but  noth- 
ing could  be  learned  about  it. 

82.  The  Puddington  Tjaiik  is  also  within  this  College 
group  of  mines.  This  is  located  about  ^  mile  south  of 
Houslerville  P.  O.,  on  William  Thompson's  land,  in  Col- 
lege township. 

There  are  two  cuts,  both  in  limestone  and  close  to  each 
other,  the  smaller  lying  about  100'  S.  W.  of  the  larger  and 
higher  on  the  hill. 

They  are  both  on  a  side  hill  close  to  the  confluence  of 
Spring  creek  and  the  Slab  Cabin  branch,  and  are  really  parts 
of  one  deposit.  Both  banks  have  been  long  abandoned,  so 
that  all  signs  of  the  old  mud  dam  and  washers  are  obliter- 
ated. 

The  pits  themselves  support  quite  a  luxuriant  growth  of 
saplings  and  underbrush,  effectually  concealing  the  ore 
surfaces. 

No  regular  work  has  been  done  here  for  30  years.  The 
hill  rises  rapidly  westward.  The  largest  opening  measures 
approximately  30  x  20  x  5  =  3000  cu.  yds.  The  upper  bank 
shows  only  about  540  cubic  yards. 

Limestone  shows  in  this,  dipping  S.  E.  20°,  which  proba- 
bly led  to  its  abandonment. 

Most  of  this  ore  seems  to  be  pipe  and  the  faces  of  the  pits, 
when  scratched,  show  a  fair  abundance  of  it. 

Some  recent  pits  have  been  sunk  higher  on  the  hill  and  in 
the  cove  running  down  towards  Houslerville,  and  show  in 
many  places  excellent  prospects.  They  are,  however,  only 
about  6-10  feet  deep.  In  several  of  them  clay  bands  of  non- 
ferruginous  matter  were  found  at  that  depth,  and  they 
were  not  driven  through. 

In  the  deeper  ones,  located  in  the  cove,  the  wash  was  ex 
cell  en  t  for  ten  feet. 

These  pits  are  spread  over  an  area  of  300  x  400  yards. 

The  creek  affords  excellent  facilities  for  washing  the  ore 
material,  and  there  is  good  ground  for  mud  dams.  These 
ores  were  formerly  hauled  to  Centre  furnace  up  to  the  time 
of  its  abandonment  in  1858. 


PENNA.  FURNACE  AND  COLLEGE  GROUPS.        T4.  245 

83.  TJie  Big  Hollow  lank  lies  fully  \\  miles  to  the  north- 
west, and  as  nothing  but  south-east  dipping  limestones  in- 
tervene between  the  two  openings,  it  evidently  lies  much 
lower  in  the  limestone  series  and  is  more  nearly  related  to 
the  several  sporadic  ore  deposits  along  Spring  creek  in 
Benner  township. 

The  bank  takes  its  name  from  the  marked  cove  extending 
eastward  towards  Spring  creek  at  Houslerville  and  rising 
gradually  westward  to  the  B.  &  B.  R.  R.,  whose  graded 
line  can  be  seen  from  the  mine. 

The  opening  is  on  property  of  Moses  Thompson,  about 
2  miles  north  of  the  State  College,  and,  like  the  many 
other  banks  dependent  on  Centre  furnace,  closed  its  active 
existence  when  that  furnace  went  out  of  blast  in  1858. 

It  is  a  shallow  pit  of  pipe  ore,  in  which  limestone  noses 
are  a  prominent  feature.  The  present  excavation  is  only  10' 
deep  ;  but,  as  it  is  reported  to  have  supplied  Centre  fur- 
nace with  a  great  deal  of  ore,  it  is  presumably  much  filled 
in  now.  The  hole  is  about  20x8x3  =  480  cubic  yards. 
Some  prospecting  has  been  done  north  of  the  road  in  the- 
woods,  but  the  shafts  have  all  been  filled  up.  At  present 
the  best  surface  show  is  around  the  school-house,  though 
in  the  field  south  and  down  into  the  hollow  I  picked  up 
some  excellent  lumps  of  pipe  ore. 

The  pit  itself  shows  much  flint,  and  the  surface  deposit 
can  have  but  little  depth.  The  elevation  is  fully  75'  higher 
than  Puddington  and  with  no  show  for  surface  water. 

South  300  yards  across  hollow  some  few  trial  shafts  have 
been  put  down  on  a  limestone  ridge  8'  or  10'  deep,  with  some 
chances  ;  but  limestone  crops  at  several  places,  dipping  14°- 
16°  S.  E.,  and  but  little  surface  ore  may  be  expected. 


Openings  north-east  of  Pinegrove.  Passing  once  more 
to  the  south  side  of  the  valley,  an  evidently  higher  range 
of  ore-bearing  limestones,  not  over  1000  feet  below  the 
slates  of  III,  is  indicated. 

The  ores  are  all  pipe  and  are  geographically  south  of  the 
Whitehall  road. 


246  T4.     KEPOKT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNYILLIERS. 

84.  The  most  western  outcrop  of  this  ore  is  in  a  small  8' 
pit  near  Lem  Kreps*  house,  where  some  fair  pipe  ore  was 
uncovered. 

Ore  was  also  met  with  in  digging  foundations  for  his 
house. 

85.  A  feeble  but  increasing  crop  may  be  traced  N.  E. 
across  Mitchell's,    W.    H.    Bailey's,    and  Ard's  fields   to 
Weaver's,  where  excellent  pipe  ore  was  found. 

North-east  in  a  direct  line  from  this  outcrop  is  the 

86.  Ross  bank,  about  1  mile  north  of  Pinegrove  mills.    It 
is  on  high  ground  north  of  Slab  Cabin  run,  and  probably 
marks  the  dying  end  of  the  Brush  valley  anticlinal,  which 
sinks  against  Tussey  mountain  in  this  vicinity.     The  old 
opening  was  worked  by  General  Invin  for  Monroe  furnace 
in  Stone  valley  across  Tussey,  to  which  it  supplied  many 
hundreds  of  tons.     It  was  said  to  be  a  decidedly  red-short 
ore,  and  to  have  shown  lumps  of  pyrites  mixed  with  the 
ore.     The  largest  cut  is  on  land  of  J.  D.  Crepe,  though  the 
entire  farm  was  originally  owned  by  John  Ross,  from  whom 
the  bank  takes  its  name. 

The  excavation  is  about  100'  x  100'  x  20'  or  7000  cubic 
yards.  The  bank  has  been  abandoned  for  many  years. 
The  face  shows  good  wash  ore,  all  pipe,  and  a  considerable 
amount  of  fine  screened  ore  on  dump. 

There  is  a  thick  covering  of  earth  and  soil  towards  the 
creek  north.  The  bank  is  fully  125  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  creek  at  the  bridge,  where  the  little  ore  washed  was 
cleaned  at  Crepe' s  house.  Limestone  comes  to  the  surface 
on  the  farm  road  east  of  opening  and  outcrops  almost 
continuously  down  to  the  valley  at  the  base  of  Tussey, with 
S.  40°  E.  dips  of  42°-20°. 

The  show  for  water  at  the  bank  is  very  poor. 

Some  prospecting  has  also  been  done  150  rods  S.  E.,  on 
the  Ross  farm  by  Bellefonte  parties  who  report  a  shaft  65' 
deep,  finding  excellent  pipe  ore  beneath  limestone,  into 
which  they  drifted.  The  surface  outcrop  here  is  consider- 
able. 

87.  The  Stover  bank  on  property  of  G.  W.  Hale,  \\  miles 
N.  W.  of  Boalsburg,  lies  close  to  the  Brush  valley  arch, 


PENNA.  FURNACE  AND  COLLEGE  GROUPS.        T4.  247 

though  slightly  on  its  north  flank.  It  is  entirely  in 
limestone  rocks  and  about  as  high  in  the  formation  of  II  as 
the  Ross  bank. 

The  anticlinal  can  be  well  recognized  just  east  of  the 
bank  on  the  road  up  branch  of  Cedar  run,  with  dips  of  48° 
N.  W.  and  12°  S.  E. 

The  bank  shows  only  pipe  ore,  but  though  the  pits  have 
been  abandoned  the  deposit  is  reported  to  have  both  consid- 
erable size  and  depth.  Some  work  was  done  here  about  5 
years  ago  and  the  little  ore  raised  was  washed  on  Spring 
creek  100'+  vertically  below  the  bank,  and  hauled  18  miles 
to  Bellefonte  to  the  Curtin  works.  Most  of  that  carried 
away  was  selected  large  lump  pipe  ore.  Considerable  drift- 
ing was  also  done. 

The  limestone  comes  to  the  surface  in  the  west  cut  dip- 
ping 40°  2sT.  W.  Much  of  the  development  here  was  made 
between  layers  of  limestone.  The  surface  ore  is  excellent, 
and  very  free  from  flinty  matter.  Spring  creek  is  f  miles 
distant  to  the  north-east. 

There  is  a  continuous  show  of  ore  to  the  south-west  across 
the  township  road  on  to  the  Bricker  (Scott  and  Mitchell) 
farm.  Limestone  also  comes  to  the  surface  here  in  the 
woods  on  a  low  flat  hill. 

A  small  pit  on  the  west  side  of  the  road  here  is  said 
to  have  shown  good  results.  The  surface  show,  however,  is 
meager  being  much  better  south-west  on  R.  Goheen's  and 
Ishler's  farms  (Meyers'  estate)  on  the  south  side  of  the 
anticlinal. 

The  country  is  generally  very  high,  but  flat,  and  carries 
a  considerable  area  of  surface  pipe  ore. 

In  concluding  this  group  of  ores,  it  is  evident  that  the 
Pennsylvania  and  Ross- Stover  banks  are  not  on  the  same 
horizon.  That  the  latter  lies  much  higher  in  the  limestone 
series  of  II  and  %  mile  further  south.  This  Pine  Grove 
range  cannot  be  traced  with  any  distinctness  south-west  of 
the  village,  the  ridge  and  anticlinal  holding  these  ores 
dying  away  very  perceptibly  towards  Beaver  branch  run 
and  rising  again  beyond  only  in  a  small  knoll,  south- west  of 
which  the  ridge  is  replaced  by  low  land  inswhich  no  ore  is 


248  T*.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS, 

reported.  The  Bryson  (Pennsylvania  bank)  horizon  is 
easily  distinguished  by  is  cove  topography  as  well  as  sur- 
face outcrop,  which  is  fairly  continuous  with  the  south 
flank  of  the  Sand  ridge  anticlinal  which  flattens  N.  E.  to- 
wards Nittany  mountain. 

Obviously  the  best  of  the  deposits  along  the  numerous 
farms  mentioned  is  confined  to  this  hollow  and  it  is  here 
that  further  prospecting  should  be  done.  The  ridge  to  the 
south  is  No.  II,  and  the  limestone  is  in  place  only  a  few 
feet  below  the  surface.  The  material  at  the  surface  is  all 
flinty,  but  all  the  pits  show  tolerably  good  ore,  which  how- 
ever can  only  be  profitably  washed  with  well  water. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Brown  Hematite  Ores  of  No.  //,  continued. 
G.  Penn's  Valley  Group. 

Under  this  heading  may  be  classed  all  the  remaining 
brown  hematite  deposits  in  the  limestones  of  II  in  Penn's 
Valley.  The  comparative  scarcity  of  developments  here  is 
due  mainly  to  three  facts,  which  must  be  born  in  mind 
when  studying  the  economic  features  of  the  various  lime- 
stones south  of  the  grand  Nittany  mountain  synclinal. 

1.  The    comparative    weakness  of    the   anticlinal    axes 
which  have  not  been  strong  enough  to  bring  to  daylight 
more  than  one  half  the  total  thickness  of  No.  II  and  conse- 
quently bury  beneath  the  surface  of  the  valleys  the  ores  of 
the  lower  limestones, 

2.  The  great  erosion  of  this  section  of  the  county  owing 
to  the  steep  dips  of  the  rocks,   and  the  consequent  obliter- 
ation of  much  of  the  surface  deposit. 

3.  The  absence  of  railroad  communication  and  the  more 
advantageously  located  position  of  the  Nittany  valley  and 
"Barrens"  ore  banks  with  regard  to  outside  demand. 

Otherwise  the  people  of  Penn's  valley  have  every  reason 
to  expect  a  good  future.  Their  ores  are  clean  and  rich  ; 
they  can  be  cheaply  mined,  and  the  completion  of  the  Sun- 
bury  and  Tyrone  railroad  via  Lemont  to  Bellefonte  will 
give  them  two  outlets  to  their  product  and  excite  a 
healthy  interest  in  prospecting  and  developing  this  field. 

88.  The  JZoss  Bank,  in  Harris  township,  \  mile  north  of 
Linden  Hall,  is  an  evident  continuation  east  of  the  Stover- 
Ross  deposit  already  mentioned.  It  is  located  on  land  of 

(249  TI.) 


250  T4.     KEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLlERS. 

James  M.  Ross,  and  close  to  the  anticlinal  arch  of  Brush 
valley,  the  axis  passing  just  north  of  the  opening. 

The  pit  is  on  a  flat  about  100  yards  S.  W.  of  Ross'  house. 
It  is  entirely  in  limestone  and  some  excellent  large  pipes 
have  been  removed  from  a  64'  shaft  to  limestone  rock  at  45 
feet. 

About  20'  below  surface  a  drift  was  run  northwards  22', 
reported  all  in  ore.  The  rocks  here  dip  south-east  12°-15°. 

A  short  distance  south-east  another  hole  was  put  down 
to  rock  at  15',  all  in  ore,  so  that  the  surface  deposit  must 
be  narrow  and  the  basin  deep.  It  can,  however,  be  traced 
N.  E.  and  S.  W.  for  some  distance,  appearing  again  on 
the  west  side  of  the  road  in  Tressler 'sfarm. 

The  fleld  on  top  of  the  Ross  flat  shows  good  surface  in- 
dications, though  not  broad.  Pits  sunk  further  N.  E. 
towards  the  hollow  were  unproductive.  Tressler' s  land  is 
well  spoken  of,  but  owing  to  a  thick  clover  crop  at  the  time 
of  my  visit,  nothing  much  could  be  seen  there. 

Both  places  are  rather  inaccessible.  No  mining  has  been 
done  here,  and  the  test  pits  are  too  few  to  judge  of  the  ex- 
tent of  the  deposit.  I  regard  the  property,  however,  as  one 
of  future  promise,  and  the  excellent  character  of  the  ore  as 
demonstrated  by  the  following  analysis  by  Mr.  McCreath 
of  126  pieces  of  wash  ore  from  trial  shaft,  sampled  in  Sept., 
1881,  and  dried  at  212°  F.,  will  speak  for  itself.  The  per- 
centage of  sulphur  in  the  form  of  -indecomposed  iron  pyrites 
is  noticeable,  and  taken  with  the  Sinking  creek  mine  to  be 
shortly  described,  is  significant  as  bearing  upon  the  origi- 
nal derivation  of  these  pipe  ores. 

Bisulphide  of  iron,     .515 

Protoxide  of  iron, 353 

Sesquioxide  of  iron, 75.892 

Sesquioxide  of  manganese, .433 

Sesquioxide  of  cobalt, 200 

Alumina, .955 

Lime,       1.130 

Magnesia, 518 

Sulphuric  acid, .022 

Phosphoric  acid,      355 

Water,         10.385 

Insoluble  matter, ....        9.610 

Total, ,    ,         100.365 


A'ALLEY    GROUP.  T4.  251 

Iron,     53. 640 

Manganese .      .302 

Sulphur,         284 

Phosphorus, 154 

Phosphorus  in  100  parts  iron, 237 

89.  The  Watson  bank  lies  2  miles  further  east  in  Potter 
township  and  2£  miles  south-west  of  Centre  Hall. 

This  bank  is  on  property  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Gregg,  but 
McCoy  &  Linn,  of  the  Milesburg  Iron  Works,  own  all  ore 
rights. 

The  anticlinal  passes  a  little  south  of  the  bank,  and  is 
steadily  bringing  up  lower  measures  in  its  rise  towards 
Centre  Hall,  where  it  begins  again  to  subside  eastward. 

The  developments  are  roughly,  125x100x10  =  125,000 
cubic  yards.  The  ore  occurs  entirely  in  limestone  dipping 
steeply  N.  W.  and  within  a  J  mile  of  the  margin  the 
Hudson  river  slates  of  III  along  the  south  base  of  Nittany 
mountain. 

The  same  system  of  mining  is  pursued  here  as  at  the  Hecla 
bank  in  lower  Nittany  valley,  chunks  of  limestone  and  lean 
clay  being  left  in  the  bank,  and  the  ore  drifted  for  when  it 
occurs  between  ledges  of  limestone. 

In  the  bottom  of  the  excavation  there  is  an  old  shaft 
120'  deep,  which  was  mostly  in  ore  according  to  Mr.  McCoy, 
the  ore  being  formerly  hoisted  by  an  incline  plane. 

The  ore  is  pipe,  of  an  excellent  quality,  as  the  analysis 
will  show,  much  of  it  washing  1  to  2  or  3.  But  the  greatest 
proof  of  its  purity  lies  in  the  fact  that  though  this  bank  has 
been  worked  with  considerable  constancy  since  1800,  there 
is  scarcely  any  dirt  pile  to  be  seen,  everything  passing  off 
as  clay  in  the  washers. 

The  surface  deposit  is  considerable,  and  instead  of  the 
above  figures  a  tract  600  yds.  E.  and  W.  and  400  N.  and  S. 
will  better  indicate  the  available  wash  territory. 

It  is  the  best  show  I  have  seen  in  Penn's  Valley,  and  with 
railroad  facilities  a  large  output  could  be  secured  here. 

Even  without  railroad  communication  it  is  considered 
profitable  to  mine  small  quantities  of  this  ore  at  present, 
on  account  of  its  pnrity,  and  haul  it  across  Nittany  moun- 
tain 10-12  miles  to  the  Milesburg  furnace. 


252  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Only  surface  grubbing  is  being  carried  on  here  now,  and 
the  material  is  conveyed  to  a  single  shaft  (20'  long)  open 
horse-washer  300  yards  distant  in  the  hollow  just  below 
Gregg's  house. 

The  wash  water  is  caught  in  a  dam,  to  which  it  is  con- 
veyed by  sluice-boxes  from  a  mountain  spring. 

Several  mud  dams  have  been  erected  in  the  flat  below  to 
thoroughly  clarify  the  water  before  it  enters  a  sink- hole  on 
the  south  side  of  the  valley  road. 

West,  this  deposit  can  be  traced  with  more  or  less  success 
through  the  following  farms:  John  Sanky,  John  Bitner, 
Samuel  Crozer,  Joshua  Potter,  Geo.  Leech,  Shannon  Boal  to 
Jno.  Ross,  comprising  a  belt  nearly  2  miles  long,  much  of 
which  invites  prospecting. 

East,  one  field  there  is  a  tine  show  of  ore  on  Osman's 
farm  as  yet  undeveloped,  where  several  shafts  35'  deep  re- 
port excellent  results.  The  Van  Valzah  farm  also  claims 
ore. 

The  following  analysis  by  Mr.  McCreath  from  sample  of  173 
pieces  of  wash  ore  made  in  1881  and  dried  at  212°  F.  hardly 
bears  out  Mr.  McCoy's  testimony  of  this  ore  in  his  furnace 
working,  but  no  doubt  is  fairly  representative  of  its  quality 
at  the  time  of  sampling  : 

Protoxide  of  iron, .482 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,       65.964 

"  "      "  manganese, 362 

"  "      "  cobalt, 030 

Oxide  of  zinc, .260 

Alumina, 1.609 

Lime 1830 

Magnesia, 1.120 

Sulphuric  acid, .085 

Phosphoric  " .311 

Water,     12.375 

Insoluble  matter, 15.780 

Total, .    100.208 


Metallic  iron, 46.550 

"        manganese,      .252 

Sulphur,         034 

Phosphorus,      .135 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron, .292 


PENX'S  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.  253 

90.  Emerick  bank,  in  Brush  valley,  J  mile  east  of  Centre 
Hall,  owes  its  position  to  the  same  anticlinal.  The  develop- 
ments are  meager,  and  consist  of  a  few  shallow  trial  pits  5 
to  10  feet  deep. 

The  surface  show  is  poor.  The  ore  is  pipe,  and  what  lit- 
tle surface  ore  there  is  is  caught  on  high  ground  and  within 
a  very  limited  area. 

East  of  Lingle's  the  whole  surface  show  is  lean  and  flinty 
and  the  limestone  crops  everywhere  along  the  valley.  I 
doubt  if  much  other  ore  will  be  found  further  east.  The  fol- 
lowing is  Mr.  McCreath's  analysis  of  115  pieces  from  trial 
shaft,  September,  1881,  dried  at  212°  F. : 

Sesquioxide  of  iron, 68.714 

"          "      "    manganese, 1.654 

"          "      "    cobalt, 040 

Oxide  of  zinc, ,l;70 

Alumina, 1.353 

Lime 1.320 

Magnesia, .          .295 

Sulphuric  acid 085 

Phosphoric  acid, .313 

Water,  12.566 

Insoluble  matter,    .  14.150 


Total,        100.557 


Metallic  iron, 48.100 

Manganese, 1.152 

Sulphur,      .    •    •       033 

Phosphorus,      .137 

Pbos.  in  100  parts  iron, 284 

91.  /.  P.  Rurikle  trial  shaft  is  south  of  this  range  about 
2  miles  but  in  geologically  similar  rocks  brought  up  by  the 
Penn's  valley  anticlinal  about  f  miles  north  of  Centre  hill, 
in  Potter  township,  and  on  the  south  side  of  the  Penn's 
valley  axis.  The  pit  lies  on  very  high  ground  between  the 
synclinals  of  Brush  mountain  and  Egg  hill,  and  was  carried 
down  30'  with  6'  of  top  soil.  The  ore  is  pipe  as  far  as  tested, 
of  excellent  quality. 

Several  large  chunks  of  pipes  2'  to  3'  long  have  been  re- 
moved as  specimens. 

The  surface  show  is  considerably  mixed  with  a  limestone 


254  T.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  A'.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

clay,  and  though  weak,  can  be  traced  east  into  Henney's 
farm  and  west  towards  William  fioal's  and  the  Krumerine 
farms. 

This  deposit  is  cut  off  north  by  a  limestone  ridge  at 
Brockerhoff '  s  farm.  The  ore  lies  a  little  low.  and  may  be 
300-400  yards  wide. 

Col.  James  P.  Coburn,  of  the  Penn's  Valley  Mining  Com- 
pany, claims  to  own  ore  rights  here,  and  says  the  property 
has  been  fully  tested  with  pits  now  filled  up.  Ore  was 
found  in  them  to  a  depth  of  40',  the  shallowest  being  6' 
when  limestone  was  struck. 

The  following  is  McCreath's  analysis.  Sample,  107  pieces 
wash  ore  from  shaft,  September,  1881.  dried  at  212°  F.: 

Protoxide  of  iron, 128 

Sesquioxideof  iron,  .  .  74.428 

"        "      "    manganese, trace. 

"  "  "  cobalt,  .  .  '.  110 

Alumina, 1.286 

Lime, L480 

Magnesia 1.138 

Sulphuric  acid, .117 

Phosphoric  acid, 343 

Water 13.720 

Insoluble  matter, 7.390 

Total, 100.140 

Iron, ; 52.200 

Sulphur, .047 

Phosphorus, .150 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron, 287 

92.  The  Sinking  Creek  mine  or  Wagner  'bank  of  the 
Penn's  Valley  Mining  Company,  Potter  township,  lies  one 
mile  east  of  Centre  Hill  and  close  to  the  edge  of  the  Egg 
Hill  slates  on  Sinking  creek.  It  is  on  property  of  Bernard 
Wagner  and  was  last  worked  by  Gen.  Irwin  Gregg.  The 
mine  was  idle  when  visited  in  July,  1883,  and  showed  a  nar- 
row trench  dug  between  ledges  of  No.  II  limestone,  dipping 
S.  33°  E.  52°-65°.  The  west  branch  of  Sinking  creek  flows 
past  the  cut  and  its  waters  have  been  utilized  for  washing 
the  ore. 

The  bank  exhibits  a  characteristic  pipe  ore  deposit,  con- 
fined to  limestone  crevices  and  devoid  of  any  surface  crop. 


s  VALLEY  GROUP.  T4.  255 

The  thickness  of  the  ore  bed  is  extremely  irregular,  but 
always  furnishes  a  rich  wash  as  mined. 

The  high  percentage  of  iron  in  this  case  would  make  this 
ore  extremely  valuable  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  large 
pipes  when  broken  nearly  all  show  undecomposed  cores  of 
iron  pyrites  yet  unoxidized,  and  creating  a  red-short  iron. 

The  specimens  examined  show  the  presence  of  pyrites  in 
all  stages  of  decomposition. 

The  ore  on  the  dump,  about  100  tons,  looks  beautiful, 
occurring  in  large  lump  pipes,  one  of  them  weighing  1,500 
pounds ;  but  inside,  are  all  made  up  of  sulphuret  of  iron 
cores. 

Trial  shafts  in  adjacent  fields  show  some  little  signs  of  ore 
but  no  wash  ore  is  visible.  From  4  to  6  feet  of  broken  lime- 
stone covers  the  deposit.  No  better  place  exists  in  the 
county  to  study  the  character  of  these  pipe  ore  deposits. 

The  bed  varies  from  a  few  inches  to  6'  thick.  Drifting 
has  been  done  north  and  south  with  some  success. 

The  locality,  however,  is  not  favorable  for  cheap  ore  in  the 
face  of  more  advantageously  located  surface  deposits. 

Mr.  Coburn  states  that  a  small  roll  was  encountered  in 
mining  here  and  reports  much  ore  taken  out  on  a  north  dip. 
In  fact,  a  drift  run  north  40'  developed  a  bench  of  ore  22' 
thick  which  showed  a  slip  at  that  point  of  10'  or  12'  under 
which  ore  was  again  found. 

The  roll  can  only  be  local  as  it  cannot  be  detected  else- 
where, unless  we  connect  the  two  steep  N.  W.  dips  of  50° 
and  80°  in  the  public  road  with  this  arch. 

There  is  a  double  washer  here,  22'  long,  which  has  cleaned 
as  high  as  60  tons  a  day.  The  teeth  are  fastened  on  to 
octagonal  wooden  shafts  in  the  old  style,  being  cast  on  an 
iron  bar  with  5  teeth  to  each  bar. 

The  development  is  300'  x  60'  x  20',  only  about  one  half  of 
which  is  in  ore. 

The  following  two  analyses  are  by  Mr.  McCreath.  Sam- 
pled Sept.  1881,  and  dried  at  212°  F. 

No.  1,  207  pieces  of  lump  ore.  No.  2,  189  pieces  of  wash 
ore  at  washer. 


256  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 


(1)  (2) 

Bisulphide  of  iron,  .............  800  .137 

Protoxide  of  iron,    .............  642  .385 

Sesquioxide  of  iron,    ...........     76.071  67.428 

"           «  manganese,  .........  185  .014 

"           "  cobalt,    ...........  030  .050 

Oxide  of  zinc,     ...............  070  none. 

Alumina,     ................       1.838  1.674 

Lime,    ..................       1.220  2.180 

Magnesia,        ................  200  .594 

Sulphuricacld  ...............  107  .125 

Phosphoric  acid,  .............         ,224  .288 

Water,  .................      11.778  10.870 

Insoluble  matter,     ......   ••....       7.280  15.690 

Carbonic  oxide,    .............  .730 

Total,    ................    100.455  100.165 

Metallic  iron,     ..............     54.123  47.564 

Metallic  manganese  .............  129  .010 

Sulphur,  ..................  470  .123 

Phosphorus,       ...............  098  .126 

Phos.  in  100  parts  iron,      ..........  181  .265 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
Iron  Industries  of  Centre  County. 

The  various  iron  ore  mines,  blast  furnaces,  rolling-mills, 
forges,  etc.,  of  Centre  county  represent  an  important  in- 
dustrial interest,  but  not  by  any  means  what  it  should  be. 

When  the  many  advantages  of  the  region  are  taken  into 
consideration,  the  proximity  of  ore,  coal,  and  flux;  the 
numerous  projected  railroad  facilities  for  moving  both  raw 
and  refined  products  at  competitive  rates  ;  the  agricultural 
resources  of  the  district  rendering  living  both  cheap  and 
comfortable,  and  the  abundant  water  power,  it  seems  strange 
that  Centre  county  should  be  so  little  advanced  in  this 
respect. 

Historically,  the  county  has  played  an  important  role  in 
the  past  in  the  production  of  charcoal  iron,  and  various 
picturesque  ruins  of  little  charcoal  furnaces  still  dot  its 
valleys. 

Located  for  the  most  part  through  Bald  Eagle  valley, 
where  the  requisite  water  power  was  most  readily  obtained, 
the  expense  of  hauling  the  Nittany  valley  hematites  over  the 
mountain,  the  scarcity  of  fuel,  and  the  decreasing  demand 
for  charcoal  iron  in  the  various  arts  have  led  to  the  successive 
abandonment  of  most  of  these  sites,  while  no  effort  has  been 
made  to  replace  them  with  more  modern  structures. 

When  it  is  stated  that  in  this  vast  virgin  field  of  ore  ter- 
ritory capable  at  any  moment  of  furnishing  thousands  of 
tons  of  excellent  40-50  per  cent,  ores,  with  an  abundance 
of  good  limestone  and  coke  from  its  Snow  Shoe  coal-fields, 
there  is  not  a  single  coke  or  anthracite  furnace  erected  (unless 
we  except  Pennsylvania  furnace,  which  is  really  in  Hun- 
17  T4.  (257  T*.) 


258  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 


tingdon  county,)  the  position  of  affairs  will  be  readily  under- 
stood. 

The  following  historical  account  of  early  iron  enterprises 
in  the  county  may  be  of  some  interest.  It  is  an  extract 
from  the  report  to  the  Centennial  Commission,  entitled 
"Iron  Making  in  Pennsylvania"  : 

"  Centre  furnace,*  located  about  nine  miles  south-west  of 
Bellefonte,  was  the  second  furnace  erected  in  the  Juniata 
valley  or  near  its  boundaries. 

It  was  built  in  the  summer  of  1792  by  Col.  John  Patton 
and  Col.  Samuel  Miles.  The  first  forge  in  Centre  county 
was  Rock  forge,  on  Spring  creek,  four  miles  south-west  of 
Bellefonte,  built  in  1793  by  General  Philip  Benner,  who 
subsequently  originated  other  enterprises  in  the  county, 
and  became  an  extensive  shipper  of  Juniata  iron.  He  died 
in  1833,  long  before  which  his  Rock  forge  enterprises  had 
expanded  into  a  rolling  and  slitting-mill,  nail  factory,  fur- 
nace, etc. 

*An  interesting  record  of  the  ore  used  and  product  obtained  at  this  old  fur- 
nace between  1852  and  1858,  when  it  was  finally  abandoned,  was  kindly  fur- 
nished by  Mr.  J.  I.  Thompson,  of  Lemont,  from  the  furnace  books.  Most  of 
the  ore  was  lump,  which  was  carted  to  the  furnace  and  roasted  there  so  as  to 
be  broken  into  suitable  sizes.  The  ore  records  for  the  years  1856-57-58  have 
been  lost.  The  small  amount  of  pig  metal  produced  in  1854-55  and  large  ore 
tonnage  was  owing  to  the  accumulation  of  stock,  much  of  which  yet  remains 
on  dump. 


NAME  OF  BANK. 

1852. 

1853. 

1854. 

1855. 

1856. 

1857. 

1858. 

Puddington,     .    . 
River  Hill,  (Scotia,)  .   . 
Blair,              .       .   . 

434 

1,170 
425 

44 
827 

516 
1,303 
244 

519 
621 

Markle,          ... 

15 

Lam  bourn,    .  .   . 

77 

223 

477 

256 

Watson,                .  . 

291 

1  884 

583 

57 

Cooper,    

165 

129 

1,115 

Jackson 

12 

Red  Bank             . 

213 

77 

325 

40 

140 

418 

1 

39 

Newell,   

33 

Totals,  

2,577 

3,203 

3,834 

3,062 

Tons  of  pig  metal  pro- 
duced,         

939 

1,274^ 

955| 

737 

613' 

478 

238 

IRON  INDUSTRIES.  T4.  259 

The  furnace  was  built  in  1816. 

In  1795  Daniel  Turner  erected  Spring  Creek  forge  and  in 
1796  Miles  Dunlap  &  Co.^had  Hnrmony  forge,  on  Spring 
creek,  in  operation.  Logan  furnace,  near  Bellefonte,  was 
built  in  1800  by  John  Dunlap.  In  1607  Roland  Curtin 
erected  a  furnace  on  Bald  Eagle  creek,  about  4  miles  from 
Bellefonte,  and  in  1817  he  built  a  furnace  called  Eagle.  In 
1831  a  small  rolling-mill  was  added  for  the  manufacture  of 
bar  iron  and  nails.  About  1820  Hardman  Philips  erected 
at  Philipsburg  a  forge  and  screw  factory,  the  latter  one  of 
the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  country. 

Cold  Stream  forge  was  erected  about  the  same  time  by 
John  Plumbe,  Sr.,  in  Rush  township. 

*  *  *  For  many  years  after  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury, Huntingdon  and  Centre  counties  constituted  the  prin- 
cipal iron  producing  district  in  the  country,  Pittsburgh  and 
eastern  • ..-ities  manufacturing  the  iron  which  they  produced. 

This  prominence  in  the  production  of  iron  was  main- 
tained until  after  1842,  when  the  tariff  of  that  year  and  the 
discovery  that  iron  could  be  made  with  anthracite  and  bi- 
tuminous coal  enabled  other  districts  of  the  State  and 
country  to  wrest  from  these  counties  their  iron  scepter." 

Most  of  the  enterprises  referred  to  in  this  sketch  have 
been  abandoned  now  or  transferred  elsewhere ;  but  that 
iron-making  still  engages  the  attention  of  a  large  portion  of 
its  population,  is  made  evident  from  the  following  details 
of  the  still  existing  and  active  plants  : 

1st.  Logan* s  furnace,  Valentines  &  Co.,  located  on  what  is 
known  as  the  Forge  tract  of  275  acres,  about  f  miles  south- 
east of  Bellefonte.  This  furnace  lies  north  of  the  original 
plant.  The  various  buildings  are  all  situated  on  the 
west  side  of  Logan's  branch,  which  rapidly  flowing  stream 
insures  them  abundant  water  power,  in  addition  to  sup- 
plying other  industries  such  as  Mann's  axe  factory,  Hume's 
mill,  Bellefonte  car- works,  Duncan  &  Co. 's  machine  works, 
etc. 

The  cold  blast  charcoal  furnace  has  a  32'  stack,  8'  bosh 
drawn  in  to  2'  at  tunnel  head. 

Blast  is  run  by  water  power,  though  steam  attachments 


260  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       K.  V.  D'  IX  VILLIKKS. 

are  on  ground  ready  for  use  if  required.  The  engine  has 
two  40"  cylinder  boilers,  blowing  cold  air  through  one 
tuyere  with  3"  nozzle. 

The  production  is  about  75  tons  per  week  or  about  3700 
tons  per  year. 

The  charge  is  from  2|-2£  tons  of  ore,  150  bushels  of  char- 
coal and  100  per  cent  weight  of  limestone,  or  from  50-100 
Ibs.  per  charge  of  1000  Ibs.,  the  charge  varying  slightly 
with  the  character  of  the  ore. 

Nigh  bank  ore  is  almost  exclusively  used  here  no\v.  The 
rolling-mill  is  run  mostly  on  boiler  and  wire  iron.  The  forge 
plant  consists  of  six  36"  cylinder  boilers  and  12  heating 
ovens,  two  steam  power  cylinders,  4'  stroke,  44"  diameter. 

The  blast  engine  cylinders  are  14"  diameter  and  4'  stroke. 
Hammer  engine,  12"  and  4'  stroke.  Charcoal  is  hoisted  by 
an  incline  to  furnace  top,  being  brought  in  cribs  on  flat  gon- 
dola cars  from  the  Allegheny  mountains. 

The  present  works  require  about  100,000  tons  of  charcoal 
a  year,  requiring  about  an  acre  of  timber  ground  daily  to 
produce,  so  that  the  day  for  charcoal  furnaces  in  this 
sparsely-timbered  district  can  be  readily  discounted. 

2.  Milesburg  Iron-Works.  (McCoy  &  Linn,)  situated  on 
Spring  creek,  in  Boggs  township,   about  1   mile  south  of 
Milesburg.     The  furnace  is  about  the  same  size  as  the  Lo- 
gan, just  described,  and  similar  to  it  in  other  respects.     It 
was  built  about  1830.     The  rolling  mill  has  7  heating  fur- 
naces, 3  puddling  furnaces  with  a  capacity  of  30  tons  a  week ; 
2  heating  furnaces  for  blooms  and  billets,  3  trains  of  rolls, 
and  2  hammers  ;  steam  and  water  power.    Most  of  the  stock 
is  sent  to  wire-mill,  where  it  is  made  into  all  sizes  of  wires 
and  bolts. 

Some  little  is  made  into  boiler  plates.  Capacity,  3000  net 
tons. 

3.  Pleasant  furnace,  (Curtin  Bros.  &  Co.,)  situated  at 
Curtin  Station,  B.  E.  V.  R.  R.,  in  Boggs  township,  known 
as  Eagle  Works.     It  was  bail t  in  1847,  after  the  abandon- 
ment of  Martha  furnace.     The  forge  here  was  built  in  1810. 
The  original  Eagle  furnace,  1  mile  west,  on  site  of  present 
rolling-mill,   was  built  early  in  the  century,  prior  to  the 


IROX  INDUSTRIES.  T    261 

erection  of  Martha.  The  furnace  is  31'  high,  8£'  bosh,  drawn 
in  to  2'  at  tunnel-head.  Preparations  were  being  made  in 
the  fall  of  1883  for  a  renewal  of  hearth  and  an  additional 
tuyere  to  be  used  either  alternately  or  simultaneously  with 
the  single  one  then  used.  Open  hearth,  cold  blast,  water 
power.  Blast  was  furnished  by  a  Houston  water-power 
wheel ;  Scold-blast  cylinders,  each  62"x42"  and  4'  stroke. 

The  forge  has  8  heating  fires,  using  about  90  bushels  char- 
coal to  the  ton.  An  old  wooden  undershot  water-wheel  fur- 
nished power  for  hammer,  soon  to  be  replaced  by  a  Jenkins 
(Bellefonte)  turbine  wheel.  Product  chiefly  bars  for  boiler 
plate. 

Rolling-mill  has  1  single  puddling  furnace,  1  heating  fur- 
nace, 2  trains  of  rolls,  and  1  squeezer.  Capacity,  2000  tons. 

4.  Howard  furnace,  (Bernard  Lauth  &  Co.,)  located  at 
Howard  station,  B.  E.  V.  R.  R.,  in  Howard  township.  One 
stack  33'x8',  built  in  1830;  coke;  annual  capacity,  5000  tons. 
One  stack  31 'x8^',  built  in  1833;  charcoal  cold  blast ;  water 
power.  Only  the  latter  is  now  used.  Boiler  plate  iron. 

Rolling-mill  was  built  in  1840;  6  single  puddling  furnaces, 
2  heating  furnaces,  3  trains  of  rolls,  (one  16,  one  12  and  one 
8-inch,)  and  1  rotary  squeezer ;  water  power.  Capacity, 
3000  tons. 

The  old  Hecla  furnace  (McCoy  &  Linn)  was  built  in  1820. 
It  was  a  cold  blast  charcoal  stack,  32'xS'.  but  has  been  aban- 
doned for  a  long  time,  until  the  site  is  barely  visible. 

Washington  furnace  and  Pennsylvania  furnace  lie  just 
outside  the  county  line,  in  Clinton  and  Huntingdon  coun- 
ties. 


The  following  estimates  of  cost  in  making  a  ton  of  metal 
at  Bellefonte  may  fittingly  close  this  chapter,  and  provide 
comparison  with  other  districts. 

They  will  all  probably  fall  short  of  the  results  obtained 
in  furnace  practice,  but  have  nevertheless  been  made  on  the 
usual  basis  of  such  calculations  and  are  presented  without 
comment  for  the  judgment  of  those  interested  in  such  work. 

Mr.  Abraham  Valentine,  under  date  of  July  17th,  makes 
the  following  estimate  for  a  ton  of  pig  metal  from  a  good 


262  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.   D' INVTLLIERS. 

coke  furnace  producing  75  tons  per  day,  and  supposing 
railroad  connection  to  ore  banks — the  latter,  together  with 
the  plant,  owned  by  the  operating  company  : 

Coke,  (Connellsville)  1£  tons  @  $2.25,  52.81 

Ore.  (Nittany  valley  hematites)  2J  tons®  $1.25, 2.66 

Limestone, 50 

Labor, 1.50 

Expenses  (wear  and  tear) ,      75 

Interest  on  investment, 50 

$8.72 

"  We  are  now  making  charcoal  metal  with  2£  tons  ore 
cold  blast,  and  about  J  ton  of  limestone.  We  can  now  get 
coke  delivered  at  $2.00,  and  when  the  Clearfield  region  is 
opened  up  through  B.  C.  C.  &  S.  W.  R.  R  ,  we  should  cer- 
tainly get  it  as  cheap,  if  not  cheaper,  so  that  the  figures 
given  are  not  too  low.  You  can  throw  in  $1.25  per  ton  for 
extras  and  still  make  iron  for  $10  per  ton." 

In  further  illustration  of  this  interesting  subject  I  present 
a  further  estimate,  made  on  Sept.  22d,  1883,  under  similar 
circumstances  and  compiled  by  Messrs.  Coxe  and  Howe,  of 
the  Montour  Steel  and  Iron  Co.,  Robert  and  Abraham  Val- 
entine, and  Gen'l  James  D.  Beaver,  of  Belief onte.  The 
figures  for  ore  only  were  furnished  by  the  Messrs.  Valen- 
tine. 

Ore  (Nittany  valley  hematite  45-50  per  cent  iron),  2|  tons  @  $1.50,  .   .    .    $3.38 

Coke,  li  tons  @  $2.25,       2-81 

Limestone,  \  ton  @  .50, 25 

Labor  at  furnace,        ....       1.50 

Miscellaneous,  general  repairs,  etc.,          1.50 

Sin  king  fund,  for  chilled  furnace,  breakage,  etc., 50 

Interest  at  6  per  cent 35 

$10.29 

For  comparison  the  following  estimates  at  various  places 
in  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  are  taken  from  Mr.  McCreath's 
report  on  the  "Mineral  Wealth  of  Virginia/'  Estimates 
made  in  1882. 

Milnes,     .  .  1  $12  55 

Buchanan,  .  j  12  94 

Roanoke,     .  }  Virginia,        12  58 

Central, .     11  89 

New  River,  J  ....                                          .     11  03 


IROX  INDUSTRIES.  T.  263 

Middle  Pennsylvania,*  ^  $18  22 

Harrisburg,  ...     I  18  35 

Lehigb  Valley,      .    .    .     '  Pennsylvania,       20  38 

Pittsburgh,  .    .    .    .    J  17  97 

Philipsburg,  N.  J., ...  17  87 

The  present  product  of  the  furnaces — charcoal  pig — is  es- 
timated as  follows : 
Logan  furnace, f  Messrs.  Valentine  &  Co..  March  21.  1884. 

2J  tons  of  ore,  @  $2,    .                                           $4  50 

ISO  bushels  of  2150  inches  charcoal,  @  6i  cents, 9  75 

i  ton  of  limestone,  @$1,             .    .                     25 

Labor  at  furnace  on  above,                                        1  90 

Other  expenses:  smith,  carpenter,  management,  interest, 

etc 1  60 

$18  00 


"  These  other  expenses  will  vary,  of  course,  with  amount 
of  iron  made,  and  with. railroads  to  mines  and  larger  furnace 
would  be  materially  reduced,  as  also  labor  on  each  ton  of 
iron  made." 

Mr.  A.  G.  Curtin,  Jr.,  under  date  of  March  29,  1884,  sends 
the  following  estimate  of  cost  of  producing  a  ton  of  pig 
metal  at  the  Pleasant  furnace  of  the  Eagle  Iron  Works  :  f 

4750  Lbs.,  one  half  Fishing  Creek  bank  and  one  half  Red 

bank  ore,  @  $2  50,  

109  bushels  charcoal,  @  6£  cents,  

800  Ibs.  limestone  per  ton  of  iron,  @  50  cents,    .... 
Labor  at  furnace,       .   . 

Contingent  expenses,  management,  interest,  etc.,  .   . 
Bad  weather,  wet  days,  etc., 

$18  60 

It  is  the  practice  of  this  firm  to  charge  their  forge  with 
metal  at  $19,  though  they  have  equal  facilities  with  other 
parties  in  manufacturing  cheap  iron. 

These  are  both  fairly  representative  estimates  of  the  aver- 
age cost  of  production  of  charcoal  iron,  both  companies  at 
present  being  obliged  to  transport  their  ores  by  teams  3 
miles  to  their  furnaces,  and  bring  their  charcoal  from  the 
Allegheny  mountains,  23  miles  distant. 

The  Howard  iron  works,fless  advantageously  situated  in 

*  Broad  Top  region.  f  **«  blished  by  permission. 


264  T.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D*IXVILLIERS. 

the  Bald  Eagle  valley,  10  or  12  miles  from  Bellefonte,  esti- 
mate under  date  of  March  29,  1884,  at  $25  00  per  ton,  as 
follows  : 

2J  tons  of  ore  @  $4  00,      $9  00 

160  bushels  of  charcoal  @  7  cents, 11  20 

J  tons  of  limestone  @  90  cents,          18 

Labor  at  furnace  on  above,                       2  00 

Other  expenses,  management,  repairs,  etc., 2  62 

Total,     .  ' $25  00 

The  large  increase  in  the  first  two  items  of  ore  and  coal 
at  this  point  will  account  for  the  increased  cost  of  manu- 
facture here. 

Mr.  Frank  McCoy,  of  the  Milesburg  Iron  Works,  located 
near  Bellefonte,  states  their  quantities  of  raw  material  used 
in  the  conversion  into  a  ton  of  charcoal  metal  at  2^-2|-  tons 
of  ore  ;  600  to  900  bushels  of  limestone  and  120  to  140  bush- 
els of  charcoal. 

With  the  early  completion  of  numerous  graded  and 
prospective  railroad  lines  ;  with  an  abundance  of  45-50  per 
cent  hematite  ores  readily  and  cheaply  mined  and  limestone 
and  coke  very  accessible.  Centre  county  certainly  seems  a 
favorable  locality  for  the  manufacture  of  cheap  iron,  and 
the  re-establishment  of  her  position  in  the  front  rank  of 
iron-producing  counties  of  Pennsylvania. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Township  Geology. 

In  the  preceding  chapters,  on  the  Coal  Measures,  the  Ore 
Mines,  &c.,  many  geological  features  have  been  already 
sufficiently  described  which  otherwise  would  find  place  in 
this  chapter. 

Thus  the  detailed  description  of  the  coal  measure  rocks 
in  chapter  V  practically  includes  everything  of  interest  in 
the  geology  of  Rush,  Snow  Shoe,  Burnside  and  northern 
Curtin  townships. 

1.   Rush  township. 

Almost  the  entire  area  of  the  township  outside  of  the 
coal  measure  rocks,  is  occupied  by  the  conglomerate  of 
XII  or  the  coarse  white  sand  resulting  from  its  disinte- 
gration. 

The  Tyrone  and  Clearfield  pike  shows  some  few  exposures 
of  the  underlying  rocks  XI  and  X,  the  latter  well  seen  at 
the  Big  Fill  at  Mt.  Pleasant  station. 

At  the  Taylor  line,  No.  X  shows  a  dip  of  about  N.  45°, 
W.  3°,  in  buff  and  white  sandstone  in  beds  15'  thick  with 
intercalated  shaly  SS.  Various  outcrops  of  the  same 
occur  on  both  sides  of  the  curve  with  gentle  north-west  dips, 
forming  the  terrace  of  the  Allegheny  mountains,  and  crown- 
ing the  various  knobs  on  either  side  of  Ameigh  run. 

Probably  100'  ±  of  X  show  at  the  station,  made  up  of 
massive  white  sandstone  beds  sometimes  tinged  with  red, 
with  shaly  bands  and  all  dipping  about  3°  N.  W.  The 
outcropping  edges  are  a  yellowish  brown  as  if  stained  by 
iron. 

(265  TS) 


266  T*.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'  INVILLIERS. 

No.  X  extends  along  the  tangent  east  of  Mt.  Pleasant  sta- 
tion to  point  of  curve,  where  it  is  succeeded  by  some  rusty 
brown  and  red  shales  very  much  disintegrated  and  inter- 
mittent and  probably  representing  No.  XI. 

This  is  succeeded  by  line  grained  sandstone  and  conglom- 
erate of  No.  XII  to  Sandy  ridge,  250'±  thick  and  carrying 
on  top  at  the  latter  place  the  fire  clay  already  described. 

2.  Snow  Shoe  township. 

This  township  has  likewise  been  pretty  thoroughly  de- 
scribed in  chapter  V.  For  1  mile  south  of  Snow  Shoe 
city  bowlders  of  a  fine  grained  coal  measure  sandstone 
occupy  the  railroad,  the  southern  limit  of  the  coal  field 
being  probably  somewhere  near  the  forks  of  the  road. 

The  railroad  passes  for  100  feet  through  this  rock  and 
again  cuts  similar  sandstone  dipping  about  3°  N.  W.  about 
i  mile  north  of  Fountain  station. 

A  rather  more  fine  grained  sandstone  shows  just  north  of 
the  long  trestle,  about  10'  thick,  and  a  probable  representa- 
tive of  the  Homewood  sandstone  or  upper  member  of  XII. 

The  first  side  cut  south  of  the  trestle  over  Beech  creek 
is  in  XII  also,  exposing  a  massive  but  fine  grained  sandstone 
for  200'  along  the  track,  dipping  N.  40°,  W.  2°-3°,  and  about 
25'  thick.  It  consists  of  beds  of  sandstone  intercalated 
with  shaly  measures  6  inches  to  1  foot  thick. 

The  sandstone  is  generally  a  gray  banded  rock,  but 
slightly  conglomeritic,  carrying  masses  of  red  chert  and 
sandstone  in  a  central  bed  6'  thick.  The  shale  is  ochre  to 
olive  color  and  decomposes  readily. 

From  here  to  the  Boggs  township  line  similar  exposures 
of  XII  occur,  differing  but  slightly  from  those  already  men- 
tioned. The  underlying  measures  XI  and  X  are  only  ex- 
pose*d  in  this  township  along  Beech  creek  east  of  Cato,  and 
they  have  been  described  in  chapter  V. 

3.  Burnside  township. 

The  eastern  division  of  this  township  is  occupied  by  the 
coal  measures  of  the  first  and  second  basins  on  either  side 


4.    CTJRTIN  TOWNSHIP.  T\  267 

of  the  Pine  Glen-Hyner  axis,  which  dies  as  a  distinct  topo- 
graphical feature  west  of  P.  Etter's  house. 

The  central  part  of  the  township  occupied  by  this  anti- 
clinal ridge  is  a  high  barren  plateau  of  XII,  dividing  the 
drainage  system  of  Beech  creek  and  the  West  Branch  Sus- 
quehanna.  In  the  numerous  affluents  of  the  latter  are  ex- 
posed sections  of  the  Mauch  Chunk  red  shale  XI,  and  Po- 
cono  sandstone  X,  the  former  nowhere  measurable,  but  the 
latter  showing  a  thickness  in  the  north-eastern  portion  of 
the  township  of  300'±. 

No.  XI  goes  under  water  level  at  Salt  Lick  and  carries 
between  it  and  Buttermilk  Falls,  carbonate  ore  decomposed 
on  its  outcrop  to  a  slimy  hematite. 

South  of  the  anticlinal  in  this  township  the  conglomerate 
of  XII  shows  in  the  ravines  of  the  various  branches  of 
Beech  creek,  dipping  south-east  and  carrying  on  top  near 
the  Snow  Shoe  line,  the  north  edges  of  the  little  detached 
Beech  creek  coal  basins. 

4.   Curtin  township. 

Nothing  lower  in  the  series  of  the  Palaeozoic  rocks  than 
No.  VIII  occurs  in  this  township,  and  of  this  formation 
only  the  Upper  Chemung  member. 

The  high  ridge  known  as  the  Marsh  Greek  Divide,  be- 
tween Curtin  and  Howard  townships,  is  made  up  along  its 
north  flank  of  these  Chemung  slates  and  sandstones  up 
to  the  lowest  red  band  in  the  overlying  Catskill  No.  IX 
formation. 

In  this  township  exposures  of  VIII  are  scarce  owing  to 
the  mountain  drift;  but  one  outcrop  of  flaggy  sandstone 
dips  N.  W.  about  80°  on  the  Howard  road  south  of 
Brickley's. 

Marsh  creek  forms  the  divide  between  VIII  and  IX  from 
the  Liberty  line  as  far  west  as  the  saw-mill  at  the  second  road 
over  the  hill,  though  towards  Liberty,  the  red  sandstone 
hills  of  IX  have  receded  from  the  creek  to  make  the 
meadow-land  of  the  Marsh  creek  flat. 

At  Brickley'  s  the  creek  flat  is  narrowed,  and  bluffs  of 


268  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

red  sandstone  (CatskiJl  No.  IX)  skirt  the  north  side  of 
road  with  dips  of  16°,  14°,  and  15°  to  the  north-west. 

From  J.  V.  Knoll's  west,  No.  IX  occupies  the  creek  bed 
exclusively  to  the  Boggs  township  line. 

The  north  boundary  of  No.  IX  (including  in  this  divi- 
sion the  transition  layers  between  the  Catskill  and  Pocono 
formations)  lies  about  400  yards  north  of  the  north  branch 
of  Marsh  creek.  The  junction  with  the  white  sandstone  of 
X  is  tolerably  well  marked  below  Mrs.  Hawk's  house  on 
the  Cato  road,  though  the  red  and  olive  sandstones  and 
shales  of  the  Catskill-Pocono  group  extend  still  further 
north  in  a  narrow  strip  along  Weasels  run. 

Pocono  sandstone  No.  X  is  only  partially  exposed  in  place 
along  the  Cato  road,  200  yards  north  of  Mrs.  Hawk's,  where 
it  shows  a  thin-bedded  fine-grained  gray  sandstone,  30  feet 
thick,  dipping  10°  to  the  north-west.  This  is  succeeded  in 
100  yards  along  the  road  by  buff  and  red  shaly  sandstone, 
dipping  about  8°,  and  finally  a  pebbly  hard  white  sandrock 
forms  the  bluff  and  terrace  of  the  mountain. 

No.  XI  Mauch  Chunk  red  shale  is  difficult  to  recognize 
here  as  elsewhere  through  the  county,  but  is  somewhere 
near  the  junction  of  the  Cato  and  Hays  Run  roads. 

The  conglomerate  of  XII  marks  the  summit,  dipping  with 
gentle  angles  to  the  north-west  and  carrying  the  lowest  coal 
measure  beds  in  Coal  hill  and  in  the  high  knob  south  of 
Beech  creek. 


The  tier  of  townships  making  up  the  Bald  Eagle  valley 
and  Allegheny  mountain  foot  hills  from  Blair  county  to 
Clinton  county  everywhere  present  very  similar  features. 

They  all  present  a  sequence  of  the  Middle  Silurian,  De- 
vonian, and  Sub-Carboniferous  rocks  from  the  Medina  sand- 
stone of  IV  to  the  Pocono  sandstone  of  No.  X,  and  in  Boggs 
and  Union  townships  even  the  succeeding  formations  Nos. 
XI  and  XII. 

They  include  all  the  rocks  of  the  Bald  Eagle-Allegheny 
mountain  monoclinal,  exposing  highly  inclined  strata  in 
the  first  named  ridge,  with  gradually  decreasing  dips  up  to 
the  Allegheny  summits,  but  always  dipping  northwards. 


5.    TAYLOR  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  269 

They  comprise  a  rock  mass  nearly  12,000'  thick,  the  rel- 
ative position  of  whose  members  and  their  general  thick- 
nesses are  shown  in  the  vertical  section  on  the  map. 

o.    Taylor  township. 

The  Bald  Eagle  valley  has  widened  considerably  here, 
though  the  creek  now  is  feeble  and  the  summit  is  reached 
just  outside  the  township  at  Fowler's,  in  Blair  county. 

The  creek  here,  and  indeed  as  far  east  as  Milesbnrg,  has 
been  arbitrarily  fixed  upon  as  the  division  line  between  the 
lower  Helderberg  limestone  No.  VI  and  the  Marcellus 
elates  of  No.  VIII,  the  intermediate  formation,  Oriskany 
sandstone  No.  VII,  dying  away  as  a  distinct  rock  mass  be- 
tween Snow  Shoe  intersection  and  Milesburg,  in  Boggs 
township. 

The  valley  bottom  lands  are  usually  made  up  of  a  mix- 
ture of  shales  and  limestone,  forming  a  clay  deposit  and 
making  it  impossible  to  sharply  define  the  contact  lines  of 
Nos.  VI  and  VIII. 

The  upper  white  Medina  sandstone  No.  IV  everywhere 
marks  the  crest  of  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain  and  the  south- 
ern border  line  of  the  township. 

The  debris  from  this  compact,  gritty  sandstone  has  pro- 
fusely covered  the  north  flank  of  the  mountain  and  in  many 
places  effectually  conceals  the  overlying  formations.  Con- 
sequently nothing  of  V  and  VI  is  seen  in  this  township. 
The  valley  being  very  high  here,  makes  the  mountain  to  the 
south  seem  low  by  comparison  and  creates  a  marked  con- 
trast to  the  broken  and  knobby  range  of  hills  presented  in 
Boggs  and  Howard  townships  on  the  east,  where  erosion 
in  the  valley  and  on  the  hills  in  front  of  the  Belief  on  te  and 
Howard  gaps  has  produced  very  different  topographical 
features. 

The  gray  shales  and  black  fissile  slates  of  the  Marcellus 
and  Hamilton  groups  are  well  exposed  along  the  various 
roads  and  streams  north  of  the  Bald  Eagle  creek,  and  are 
essentially  the  valley -makers  of  the  county,  since  they  dis- 
integrate readily  and  break  down  into  a  thick  and  good 
farming  soil.  The  upper  members  of  this  formation — For- 


270  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

tage  and  Chemung — are  not  cultivated  to  half  the  same 
extent. 

West  of  the  old  Hannah  furnace,  in  the  road  leading  up 
Sharrow's  run,  40'  of  reddish  and  black  Hamilton  slates, 
dipping  60°  N.  W.,  are  exposed,  succeeded  further  east 
along  the  valley  road  by  a  dip  of  55°  in  the  same  in  a  bluff 
40  feet  high.  The  rounded  slate  hills  which  everywhere 
mark  the  horizon  of  these  measures  through  the  valley, 
have  receded  considerably  northwards  in  this  township, 
leaving  a  wide  flat  of  white  clay  and  broken  slate. 

All  the  mountain  streams  here  have  made  wide  valleys  at 
their  mouths,  unlike  the  narrow  ravines  further  east,  and 
the  exposures  are  few. 

Vaughan's  run  shows  none  at  all  up  to  the  red  layers  of 
No.  IX,  and  the  lines  of  contact  of  the  different  members 
of  VIII  are  obscured.  Sharrow's  run  is  equally  unproduc- 
tive of  exposures,  though  the  hill  road  to  the  east  shows  a 
good  face  of  Hamilton  slate  above  S.  Hoover's  place,  dipping 
N.  W.  40°.  One  mile  north  the  brown  shales  and  slates 
(Genesee  1)  dip  35°,  succeeded  in  another  half  mile  well  up 
the  hill  by  flags  and  thin  sandstone  and  shale  beds  of  the 
Portage  group,  dipping  north-west  towards  the  mountain 
about  30°,  and  forming  a  series  of  low  terrace  hills. 

The  stream  north  of  J.  Peters'  house  marks  the  junction 
of  IX,  throwing  the  Catskill-Chemung  transition  layers  into 
No.  VIII. 

The  valley  road  100  yards  east  of  Hannah  furnace  shows 
a  mass  of  rocks  ?0'  thick,  exposing  bands  of  sandstone  V 
thick,  and  massive  blue-black  slates  mixed  with  softer  gray 
slate  measi  res.  Several  similar  exposures  occur  east  to  the 
Worth  HDJ,  and  correspond  to  the  Hamilton  type  of  rocks, 
though  d  3void  of  any  fossils. 

West  of  Henderson's  place,  the  divide  between  VIII  and 
IX  keeps  in  a  cove  north  of  the  road  heading  up  Laurel  run, 
passing  which  the  red  Catskill  layers  occupy  the  hill  road 
all  the  way  to  the  old  pike.  A  patch  of  the  upper  Che- 
mung rocks  shows  at  intersection,  dipping  12°  N.  W. 

The  transition  beds  of  the  Catskill-Pocono  division  show 
along  Tyrone  and  Clearfleld  R.  R.  tangent,  succeeded  at 


6.    WORTH  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  271 

the  curve,  beyond  Gardner  s  station  by  gray  shaly  sandstone 
of  X,  dipping  almost  due  north  6°,  but  soon  showing  beds 
of  hard  white  sandstone  2-6  feet  thick  further  north  inter- 
bedded  with  shaly  measures  and  dipping  N.  20°,  W.  5°. 

The  junction  of  IX  and  X  is  well  marked  on  the  old  pike, 
and  from  there  east  to  Sharrow's  run  the  hill  road  runs 
along  a  terrace  of  red  Catskill  rocks.  This  terrace  is  gen- 
erally broad  and  flat,  sloping  gently  to  the  cove  south  of 
the  road  south  of  which  the  bold  Black  Oak  range  of  hills 
is  formed  by  hard  red  sandstone  layers  of  IX,  heavily 
wooded  along  the  north  flank,  but  considerably  cultivated 
on  their  southern  exposures. 

As  a  rule,  this  whole  belt  of  country  is  wild  and  rugged 
and  deficient  in  outcrops. 

The  Catskill  rocks  are  well  exposed  on  the  Little  run  road 
dipping  15°  N.  W.,  and  on  the  mountain  road  in  an  excel- 
lent series  of  sandstones  and  shales  dipping  10°-12°  N.  W. 

Pocono  sandstone  No.  X  everywhere  occupies  the  north 
portion  of  the  township,  entering  it  on  the  east  from  Worth 
in  a  bold,  prominent,  straight  ridge,  heavily  timbered  and 
covered  with  white  SS.  bowlders,  and  keeping  an  average 
height  of  about  2200'  A.  T.  as  far  as  IS  harrow's  run. 

North  of  Sharrow's  house  the  prominence  of  this  ridge 
dies  away,  becoming  notched  and  finally  gapped  by  the 
stream.  West  of  the  run  the  ridge  is  still  a  marked  feature 
of  the  topography,  but  its  crest  line  is  more  uneven  and 
broken  up.  A  ledge  of  slightly  north-dipping  (18°)  sand- 
stone shows  above  Miller's  house. 

The  Philipsburg-Tyrone  pike  likewise  shows  excellent 
exposures  of  X  on  both  sides  of  the  deep  and  narrow  ravine 
of  Little  run,  dipping  north-west  5°-7°.  The  hills  are  pre- 
cipitous and  bowlders  profuse. 

6.   Worth  township. 

The  Half  Moon- Worth  township  line  forms  the  crest  of 
the  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  and  is  here,  as  in  Taylor,  the  up- 
per white  Medina  member.  Erosion  has  thrown  down  a 
vast  amount  of  bowlders  of  all  sizes,  so  that  the  character 
and  position  of  both  V  and  VI  are  as  completely  hidden 


272  T\      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

here  as  in  Taylor  township.  The  contact  lines  on  the  map, 
therefore,  are  only  approximate. 

No  exposures  are  presented  in  the  numerous  ravines  de- 
scending from  the  unusually  straight  summit  line  of  the 
Bald  Eagle  mountain. 

The  shales  and  black  slates  of  the  lowest  member  of  VIII 
are  well  exposed  along  the  valley  road,  the  foot  hills  com- 
ing right  down  to  the  road  in  this  township,  so  that  the 
Bald  Eagle  valley  is  not  over  £  mile  wide. 

About  200'  west  of  Port  Matilda  cross  roads  the  Marcellus 
black  slates  show  40'  thick  in  bluffs  extending  almost  con- 
tinuously for  ^  mile,  with  the  same  general  characteristics 
and  occasionally  quarried  for  road  ballast.  Some  of  the 
layers  are  quite  calcareous. 

The  slates  are  both  massive  and  fissile,  generally  a  bluish 
black  to  gray  in  color,  and  dip  50°,  52°,  48°,  and  45°  to  the 
north-west. 

They  are  considerably  jointed  with  cleavage  planes,  and 
in  the  upper  part  show  red  bands  and  sandstone  layers. 

The  south  and  east  slopes  of  these  hills  have  been  largely 
cultivated,  and  carry  a  good  though  rather  cold  and  harsh 
soil.  The  ravines  coming  down  from  the  north  show  com- 
paratively few  outcrops.  The  road  along  the  Taylor  line  is 
devoid  of  exposures  in  place,  though  just  near  the  horizon 
of  the  lowest  Catskill  red  bands  the  road  leading  into  Tay- 
lor at  J.  Peters'  house  shows  a  profusion  of  Chemung  fos- 
sils in  a  dull  brown  and  gray  sandstone. 

The  Port  Matllda-Philipsburg  road  shows  (Weiiesee?) 
black  slate  above  Wes ton's  place  dipping  40°  N.  W.  and 
opposite  S.  Turner's  the  same,  dipping  38°. 

About  150  yards  above  where  the  creek  crosses  the  road 
at  old  saw  mill,  boulders  of  massive  coarse  grained  white 
sandstone  are  profusely  spread  over  the  ground  and  are 
probably  representative  of  the  lower  Chemung  rocks. 

Few  if  any  flags  are  seen  in  the  formation  here. 

The  red  soil  and  sandstones  of  IX  come  in  about  J.  Hun- 
ter's, about  100  yards  south  of  the  Black  Oak  church,  the 
olive  slates  and  gray  sandstones  of  the '  upper  Chemung 
swinging  up  the  various  ravines  whose  hillsides  are  capped 


7.    HUSTON  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  273 

with  Catskill  rocks.  These  latter  occupy  the  crest  of  the 
hill  above  the  M.  E.  church,  crossing  summit  above  Gingry's 
house  at  the  bend  of  the  road  625'  above  Martha  and  bearing 
up  the  creek  bed.  Just  south  of  this,  Chemung  rocks  filled 
with  fossils,  dip  20°  N.  W.  in  the  cove  west  of  S.  Gingry's 
and  again  at  J.  Wiser' s  on  the  creek  dipping  28°  IS".  W. 

Finally,  above  the  crossing  at  J  Ardley's,  Hamilton  red 
and  brown  slate  and  gray  sandstone  100'+  thick  dips  about 
N.  28°  W.  45°. 

Catskill  rocks  show  in  the  road  on  the  summit  above  W. 
Gingry's,  sandstone  dipping  15°  N.  W.,  and  again  on 
private  lane  along  the  terrace,  dipping  10°.  These  rocks 
make  a  gentle  terrace  slope  to  the  overlying  mountain  of  X, 
north  of  Williams',  Spotts',  Laird's,  and  Richards1  places, 
swinging  up  the  Port  Matilda  road  and  the  creek  nearly 
to  the  Rush  township  line  at  Richards'  saw-mill. 

No.  X  Pocono  forms  the  crest  of  this  hill  and  the  north 
part  of  the  township,  gapped  at  the  Huston  line,  and  cov- 
ering the  terrace  of  IX  with  white  sandstone  boulders, 
often  conglomeritic,  for  half  a  mile  from  summit. 

7.   Huston  township. 

Upper  Medina  IV  sandstone  again  forms  the  southern- 
boundary  line  along  Bald  Eagle  mountain  and  are  the  lowest 
.rocks  in  the  township. 

A  glance  at  the  map,  however,  will  show  the  curved  con- 
tour of  the  mountain.  The  thrust  northwards,  south  of 
Martha  furnace,  due  to  the  vertical  rise  of  the  Nittany  val- 
ley anticlinal  to  the  south  in  Chestnut  ridge,  has  brought 
about  this  waved  line  in  the  mountain.  On  the  road  be- 
tween Martha  furnace  and  Matternville,  the  upper  Medina 
white  sandstone  is  exposed  on  road,  dipping  N.  18°,  W. 
70° — a  vitreous  hard  white  sandrock  accompanied  with  a 
profusion  of  sharp  while  boulders. 

The  Clinton  No.  V  and  Lower  Helderberg  No.  VI  forma- 
tions are  both  concealed  here,  the  mountain  being  nowhere- 
gapped  west  of  Bellefonte  so  as  to  expose  sections  of  those 
rocks.  Prof.  Rogers,  page 552,  vol.  I,  says  that  "fragments 
of  the  Surgent  (Clinton)  calcareous  layers,  full  of  fossils 
18  T4. 


274  T*.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

and  of  buff  shales,  were  thrown  out  of  diggings  at  Juliana 
furnace  ; "  but  this  is  the  only  mention  made  of  these  rocks 
now  so  completely  covered  up. 

North  of  Bald  Eagle  creek,  VIII  extends  for  2£  miles, 
with  several  excellent  exposures  in  the  ravines  and  road 
cuts. 

Just  east  of  the  Worth  line,  opposite  S.  Gingry's  place, 
some  little  (75  tons)  lean  hematite  is  reported  to  have  been 
raised  ;  but  all  traces  of  the  excavation  are  now  covered  up, 
and  it  is  exceedingly  doubtful  if  the  locality  was  ever  pro- 
ductive. The  Bald  Eagle  ridge  is  regular  and  even  here  ; 
the  valley  narrow.  "Williams'  run  shows  Chemung  sand- 
stone and  olive  slates  at  the  saw-mill  above  the  forks  of  the 
road  dipping  25°  N.  W.,  succeeded  by  the  Chemung-Cats- 
kill  transition  beds  of  gray  and  red  sandstone  to  F.  Wil- 
liams' place  at  the  junction  of  IX. 

The  road  up  branch  creek  to  the  Hill  school  house  runs 
around  the  north  base  of  a  Chemung  and  Portage  flag  hill, 
meeting  the  Catskill  rocks  at  the  second  creek  crossing. 

The  intersection  above  Cronister's  house  is  about  1487  A. 
T.  in  IX.,  south  from  which  the  junction  of  IX  and  VIII  is 
well  marked  on  the  hill  road  by  a  dip  near  the  summit  in 
Chemung  sandstone  of  12°  N.  W.  south  of  J.  Skirts'  house. 
Genesee  black  slates  show  in  cross  road  over  to  Mud  Lick 
run,  dipping  28°  N.  W. 

East  from  the  intersection  of  Mud  Lick  and  the  valley  road 
to  Julian,  the  road  shows  frequent  exposures  of  Marcellus 
slates  and  shales,  especially  at  railroad  crossing  in  bluffs 
20'  high  with  dips  to  the  north-west  of  50°  and  46°. 

Similar  exposures  occur  east  of  Laurel  run  to  the  Union 
line,  all  in  Marcellus  slates,  slightly  calcareous,  dipping 
north-west  32°  at  Julian  S.  H.,  25°  at  cemetery,  and  28°  at 
Parsons,  all  showing  massive  slates  and  thin  sandstone 
flags  slightly  quarried. 

Laurel  run  shows  Hamilton  measures  just  north  of  the 
branch  stream  at  Turner's  house,  dipping  35°  N.  W. 

No.  IX  Catskill  shows  a  beautiful  terrace  in  this  town- 
ship, Pocono  SS.  X  making  the  crest  and  highest  rocks,  ex- 
posed beautifully  above  W.  Steel's  place  in  a  prominent 


8.  UJSTION  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  275 

ledge,  dipping  about  10°  N.  W.  This  formation  is  every- 
where the  mountain-maker,  all  the  bolder  and  more  rug- 
ged from  the  contrast  with  the  long,  sloping  terrace  spurs  of 
IX.  It  is,  moreover,  frequently  as  coarse  and  conglome- 
ritic  as  XII. 

At  the  Rush  township  line  at  the  head  of  Laurel  run  X 
dips  4°  N.  W.  in  white  and  gray -banded  sandstone,  and 
again  about  150  yards  from  cross-roads  8°  N.  W. 

TheCatskill  rocks  head  well  up  the  ravine  along  the  creek 
bottom,  but  X  keeps  the  road  to  the  intersection,  succeeded 
by  transition  beds  dipping  11°  N.  W.  Finally,  about  500 
yards  south  of  the  intersection,  the  Catskill  rocks  are  dis- 
played in  a  splendid  sequence  of  sandstone  and  shale,  red 
and  olive-colored  with  dips  of  17°,  10°,  and  12°. 

Further  south  there  is  another  excellent  exposure,  mas- 
sive red  sandstone  (IX)  keeping  the  road  for  125  yards, 
and  giving  a  section  here  200'  thick. 

The  dip  at  Rowan's  is  about  12°,  soon  followed  by  Cats- 
kill-Chemung  transition  beds. 

8.    Union  township. 

The  divide  between  this  and  Benner  township  is  accented 
the  reverse  to  Huston.  The  township  line,  however,  leaves 
the  summit  of  white  Medina  sandstone  about  2^  miles  from 
the  Huston  line,  and  is  then  confined  to  the  Clinton  No.  V, 
which  here  rides  high  up  the  mountain  crest. 

It  nowhere  shows  in  place,  being  only  indicated  by'its  red 
soil  north  of  the  mountain  rib. 

The  position  of  the  Lower  Helderberg  or  Lewistown  lime- 
stone No.  VI  is  somewhat  better  denned,  for  it  has  been 
opened  and  somewhat  quarried  in  Alexander's  quarries, 
south  of  Bald  Eagle  creek,  and  about  1  mile  east  of  the 
Huston  line.  It  shows  a  shaly,  impure  limestone,  some- 
what fossiliferous.  and  but  sparingly  exposed,  dipping  N. 
W.  50°. 

About  2  miles  further  east,  and  south  of  Unionville,  this 
limestone  has  been  also  opened  in  Fisher's  two  quarries, 
showing  dips  of  about  52°,  impure  and  shaly. 

Splendid  exposures  of  Marcellus  black  slate  No.  VIII  oc- 


276  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNTILLIERS. 

cur  in  the  bluffs  along  the  Tyrone  road  between  the  Huston 
line  and  Dick's  run,  beginning  on  the  west  with  48°  N^Y., 
and  showing  dips  of  40°  at  Edmonston's  and  35°  north  of 
Peters' . 

East  of  Unionville,  the  exposures  are  continued  in  a  dip  of 
40°  N.  W.  beyond  Fisher's;  38°  at  small  run  at  J.  Idding's  ; 
40°  at  Free  Run  crossing,  and  50°  at  Hoover's. 

Everywhere  across  the  township  this  formation  shows  lit- 
tle variation  from  a  massive  black  and  gray  slate,  some- 
times carrying  thin  gray  sandstone  beds  and  brownish  slate, 
referable  to  Hamilton  age,  the  whole  mass  cut  by  cleavage 
planes  and  decomposing  readily.  The  north  side  of  these, 
fiills  is  made  up  of  Genesee  black  slates  and  shales,  suc- 
ceeded by  Portage  and  Chemung  rocks,  not  separable. 

Unionville  (782' A.  T.)  shows  loose  black  slate  every  where 
through  the  town.  Dick's  run  to  the  west  shows  several 
good  outcrops.  It  crosses  railroad  at  an  elevation  of  about 
800'  A.  T.  and  heads  up  towards  Rattlesnake  summit  in  X. 
Its  east  branch  heads  up  towards  the  terrace  at  Hall's  and 
with  the  main  stream  makes  the  largest  water  course  in  the 
township. 

The  road  up  this  ravine  shows  Genesee  black  slate  at 
G.  L.  Peters'  dipping  38°  X.  W.  Opposite  Hoover's  saw  mill 
and  for  150' along  the  road  there  is  an  excellent  exposure  of 
rusty  flags  and  shales — the  first  good  outcrop  of  the  Port- 
age rocks — succeeded  nortli  by  buff-colored  Chemung  sand- 
stone and  olive  shales,  all  dipping  N.  22°  W.  30°.  The 
latter  frequently  shows  large  masses  of  a  refractory  gray 
building  stone,  easily  dressed  and  durable  and  used  for 
road  ballast. 

At  the  cross  roads,  the  Chemung-Catskill  transition  beds 
come  in  with  the  same  dip,  confined  westward  to  the  south 
side  of  Dick's  run,  while  the  north  side  is  more  distinctively 
red  Catskill  No.  IX.  At  Iddings'  all  is  IX,  the  road  as- 
cending to  the  summit  of  Black  Oak  ridge  terrace,  with  an 
exposure  of  red  shale  and  sandstone  at  G.  R.  Hall's  dipping 
12°  N.  W.  There  is  a  cove  north  of  here  which  probably 
marks  the  junction  with  X.  At  A.  R.  Hall's  No.  IX  dips 


8.    UNION  TOWNSHIP.  T.  277 

10°  N.  W.  on  the  road,  the  hills  through  here  being  still 
heavily  timbered. 

Fora  quarter  mile  above  Hall's  No.  IX  is  exposed,  suc- 
ceeded by  Catskill-Pocono  beds  and  finally  by  white  Pocono 
sandstone  flags,  forming  the  outer  ridge  or  terrace  of  the 
mountain. 

Several  exposures  of  X,  5-10  feet  thick,  show  along  the 
road  with  dips  of  5°-9°,  with  some  red  beds  just  south  of  Rat- 
tlesnake hotel,  with  IX  in  the  ravine  of  Dick's  run  below. 

A  jog  in  the  township  line  between  Union  arid  Rush  town- 
ships extends  the  former  up  to  the  southern  border  of  Snow 
Shoe,  and  the  highest  hills  on  each  side  of  Glen  Harris  carry 
the  conglomerate  of  XII  on  their  summits  as  shown  on  the 
map,  flanked  with  Pocono  sandstone  X  and  finally  with  the 
red  measures  of  IX  swinging  up  Glen  Harris. 

Dewitt's  run  road  for  \  mile  north  of  Unionville  shows 
black  slates  and  brown  fissile  sandstone  dipping  40°  N.  W. 
in  a  first  exposure  60'  thick,  and  succeeded  by  massive 
(Portage  ?)  sandstone  flags  at  W.  P.  Fisher's,  considerably 
quarried.  Red  soil  is  met  with  first  at  Campbell's,  though 
VIII  extends  still  further  up  the  creek  bed.  West  100 
yards  of  the  forks  at  Shipley's  No.  IX  dips  15°,  followed 
by  a  dip  of  20°  \  mile  further  west.  This  makes  a  distinct 
terrace  from  which  Rattlesnake  knob  can  well  be  seen. 

McCormick's  run  road  shows  no  exposures,  with  a  prob- 
able junction  of  IX  at  the  school  house  above  the  Messiah 
church,  the  latter  being  in  VIII. 

Gray  and  olive  slates  mark  Free  run  road  to  Brower's 
place,  showing  in  sitfi,  there  and  dipping  N.  30°  W.  35°, 
with  20'  of  mixed  shale  and  slate,  colored  red  where  de- 
composed. . 

About  50  yards  north,  ferriferous  slates  show  loose  in  the 
road,  succeeded  in  150  yards  by  black  Genessee  slates  dip- 
ping N.  36°  W.  30°,  followed  by  gray  and  brown  Portage 
flags  and  slates,  and  finally  Chemung  rocks  slightly  con- 
glomeritic. 

The  road,  after  turning  at  J.  Lannen's  place,  shows  a  pro- 
fusion of  loose  Chemung  sandstone  bowlders  tilled  with 


278  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

characteristic  fossils.     South  of  W.  Brewer's  place,  buff- 
colored  sandstone  and  olive  shale  dip  N.  W.  25°. 

This  makes  quite  a  bold  hill,  but  not  so  strikingly  so  as 
those  immediately  north  of  the  road  formed  by  IX.  These 
hills  are  deeply  grooved  by  branches  of  Free  and  Wallis 
runs.  Catskill  measures  show  close  to  the  Boggs'  line  at 
frame  church  below  Reese's,  dipping  18°  to  the  north-west. 

9.   Boggs  township. 

This,  the  next  township  adjoining  Union  on  the  east,  pre- 
sents the  same  character  and  number  of  formations,  with 
the  addition  of  the  Oriskany  sandstone  formation  No.  VII, 
which  makes  quite  a  distinct  ridge  in  this  township  through 
the  Bald  Eagle  valley,  seen  for  the  last  time  westward  in 
the  small  knoll  on  the  railroad  between  Snow  Shoe  intersec- 
tion and  Milesburg,  though  extending  eastward  into  Clinton 
county. 

The  south  border  of  the  -township  is  an  irregular  line 
passing  through  Point  McCoy  in  the  Clinton  red  shales  of 
V,  dipping  N.  40°  W.  70°  at  the  observatory,  bearing  thence 
nearly  east  and  west  across  the  white  Medina  ridge  of  IV  to 
Spring  creek.  On  the  east  side  of  the  gap  the  line  passes 
a  little  north  of  east  along  the  upper  Medina  ridge,  the  lower 
Medina  red  shale  and  sandstone  valley,  and  meets  the  road 
through  the  Curtin  gap  in  Oneida  sandstone,  keeping  on  the 
latter  terrace  mountain  to  the  junction  of  Howard  and 
Marion  townships. 

The  Bald  Eagle  mountain  is  twice  gapped,  and  good  sec- 
tions of  the  formations  IV,  V,  and  VI  are  exposed  in  the 
openings. 

A  sketch  map  of  the  Bellefonte  gap,  reduced  from  a  par- 
tially completed  contour  survey  of  Mr.  R.  H.  Sanders,  is 
shown  upon  page  280,  which  sufficiently  shows  the  topo- 
graphy of  the  mountain  and  the  approximate  elevations  of 
the  district. 

The  following  list  of  barometrical  elevations  between 
Bellefonte  and  Point  McCoy  may  be  of  some  interest : 


9.    BOGGS  TOWNSHIP.  T*.  279 

Bellefonte  R.  R.  station, 744'  above  tide. 

R.  R.  crossing  at  Milesburg  Rolling  Mill,    ...  724' 

Spring  on  mountain  road,              1442' 

Farm  gate  to  Poorman's  house,        .           ....  1540' 

Fence  corner  on  south  hill,  Oneida  No.  IV,     .   .  1612' 

At  well  below  echo  shed,           1617' 

Spring  at  echo  shed,          .    .                     1636' 

Summit  at  Point  McCoy  (Clinton  No  V),    .   .   .  1814' 

Top  of  observatory,        1834' 

This  latter  station  allowed  an  elevation  of  nearly  1100  feet 
above  Bellefonte  and  commands  a  most  magnificent  view 
of  the  rolling  Allegheny  foot  hill  country  to  the  north  as 
well  as  the  great  plain  of  the  Nittany  valley  south  to  the 
region  of  the  Seven  mountains. 

It  affords  a  most  advantageous  place  for  the  study  of  the 
topography  and  structure  of  the  entire  Palaeozoic  series, 
comprising  as  it  does  a  connected  view  of  all  the  formations 
from  No.  II  Lower  Silurian  limestones  in  the  valley  to  the 
Conglomerate  of  XII  crowning  the  Allegheny  mountain 
plateau. 

From  this  elevated  position,  also,  almost  the  en  tire  range 
of  the  Bald  Eagle  ridge  is  visible  from  Blair  to  Clinton 
county  and  beyond,  and  the  varied  contour  of  that  moun- 
tain is  nowhere  more  plainly  depicted.  The  action  of  the 
erosive  power  of  Spring  creek  in  past  ages  is  here  forcibly 
illustrated  in  the  rough  and  knobby  character  of  the  moun- 
tain on  both  sides  of  the  gap,  a  feature  that  is  also  brought 
out  in  the  contour  map. 

Prof,  H.  D.  Rogers  in  Vol.  I,  page  547.  gives  the  follow- 
ing section  of  the  triple  formation  No.  IV  in  the  gap  which 
my  measurements  in  the  vertical  section  on  colored  map 
have  somewhat  amplified.  The  cross  section  of  the  county 
was  made  through  this  gap,  and  its  measurements  will  tend 
to  verify  those  of  the  vertical  column  which  are  more  or  less 
general  for  the  county. 

Prof.  Rogers  says  :  *  "The  Pre-meridian  (Lower  Hel- 
derburg  or  Lewistown  limestone  No.  VI)  is  quarried  back  of 
Milesburg,  dipping  30°  in  a  slight  elevation  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain.  At  another  exposure  on  the  W.  side  of  the  creek, 
the  layers  stand  almost  vertical ;  and  it  is  seen  again  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  north. 


280  T4. 


Plate  X 


9.     BOGGS  TOWNSHIP.  T*.  281 

In  the  Milesburg  gap,  the  Surgent  (Clinton  No.  V)  olive 
slates  appear  in  a  nearly  vertical  position.  On  the  S.  W. 
side  of  the  gap,  the  red  and  buff  shales  are  exposed,  but  no 
limestone  is  visible.  A  section  through  the  mountain  which 
here  as  elsewhere  is  double,  gives  the  following  characters 
for  the  Levant  (No.  IV)  series  : — 

1.  Levant  (upper  Medina)  white  sandstones  450  feet. 

2.  Levant  (lower  Medina)  red  sandstones,  argillaceous, 
thin-bedded,   gray  and   red   sandstones,    alternating  with 
qnartzose,  red,  gray  and  greenish  shales  and  without  con- 
glomerate.    In  the  upper  part  a  vertical  stem-like  form, 
like  an  irregular  Scolithus.     Thickness  500  feet. 

3.  Levant  (Oneida)  gray  sandstone,  consisting  of  (a)  green- 
ish-gray slightly  micacepus  sandstone,  with  ochreous  specks ; 
thin  layers  of  fissile  green  slate,  perhaps  belonging  properly 
to  the  red  sandstone,  380  feet ;  (b)  hard  gray  sandstone, 
forming  a  terrace  on  the  mountain  to  the  S.  W.     Not  con- 
glomeritic,  full  of  yellow  specks,  170  feet." 

Bald  Eagle  mountain  west  of  Milesburg  shows  quite  a 
decided  terrace  about  half  way  up  its  north  flank. 

It  must  be  made  by  the  limestone  of  YI  as  the  Clinton 
No.  V  rides  high  up  the  mountain  even  forming  its  crest 
for  a  short  distance  west  of  Spring  creek. 

In  the  gap  the  dip  of  the  measures  varies  from  50°-80° 
to  the  north-west,  and  averages  about  70°. 

The  opening  in  the  Lower  Helderberg  limestone  referred 
to  by  Prof.  Rogers  is  evidently  at  Swoyer's  quarry. 

The  limestone  dips  from  30°-40°  N.  W.,  showing  a  slip  or 
crimple  on  the  north  side  with  the  edges  turned  up  and 
dipping  S.  E.  10°.  The  limestone  is  sparingly  burned, 
and  occurs  in  thin  layers  2-3  feet  thick,  intercalated  with 
bands  of  gray  argillaceous  shale,  and  under  a  cover  of  8' 
of  sandy  soil  derived  from  the  mountain. 

This  rock  makes  quite  a  decided  ridge  and  is  again  opened 
on  west  side  of  Spring  creek. 

Eastward  it  flattens  into  a  mere  bench  on  the  mountain 
flank  until  south  of  Curtin's  rolling-mill,  where  it  again 
becomes  prominent.  In  the  opening  the  rock  seems  devoid 


282  T".     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXYILLIERS. 

of  fossils,  is  thin  and  siliceous,  and  beds  for  burning  must 
be  selected  with  care. 

The  whole  formation,  measured  by  outcrop,  is  something 
like  1000'  thick,  though  generally  so  covered  as  to  make 
careful  measurements  impossible. 

Bald  Eagle  creek  at  Milesburg  shows  Oriskany  S.  S.  No. 
VII  outcropping  in  plates  on  south  side  beneath  the  Belle- 
fonte  R.  R.  bridge.  It  is  quite  fossiliferous,  and  dips  N. 
38°  W.  42°.  West  it  makes  quite  a  distinct  though  low 
hill,  and  is  exposed  for  the  last  time  in  the  railroad  cut  on 
the  north  side  of  the  creek  £  mile  east  of  Snow  Shoe  inter- 
section, dipping  35°  N.  W.  A  mixture  of  soil  from  this 
rock  and  the  Marcellus  argillaceous  slate  of  VIII  is  worked 
into  brick  in  the  flat  about  i  mile  wjest  of  Milesburg. 

East  from  this  place,  along  the  road  to  Curtin  Station, 
No.  VII  shows  in  a  knob  north  of  the  road  beyond  the  site 
of  old  mill,  from  which  sand  was  considerably  quarried  for 
glass-works.  East  from  here  a  cove  extends  south  into 
Curtin' s  gap,  and  opposite  the  site  of  the  old  furnace,  No. 
VI  limestone  is  again  opened,  dipping  N.  32°  W.  78°  on  the 
Curtin  estate.  The  stone  is  blue  and  firmer  than  at 
Swoyer's,  and  shows  seams  of  calcite.  The  sxposure  is  60' 
thick  and  quite  siliceous. 

About  200'  south  from  this  there  is  a  drift  crossing  the  old 
Milesburg  road  and  entering  the  hill,  Helderberg  ore — 
the  "Baker  ore  "  of  the  Juniata — was  mined  here  formerly 
to  some  slight  extent,  and  used  at  the  Curtin  furnace.  An 
old  pile  of  dirt  and  ore  taken  out  30  years  ago  marks  the 
place  of  operation. 

The  ore  is  a  lean,  argillaceous  hematite,  carrying  25-30 
per  cent  of  iron.  The  course  of  drift  was  about  N.  10°, 
E.  and  S.  10°  \V.,  continuing  along  which  course  a  hole  dug 
15'  to  the  south  threw  out  red  shale. 

In  150  yards  from  the  road,  a  shaft  25'  deep  was  put  down 
in  VI,  and  drifted  slightly  in  two  levels  5'  vertically  apart 
at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft. 

About  100  tons  are  said  to  have  been  taken  out  here,  but 
in  the  presence  of  an  abundance  of  45-50  per  cent  ores  in  the 
Nittany  valley  this  ore  has  received  but  slight  attention. 


9.     BOGGS  TOWXSHIP.  T4.  283 

Upon  examination  the  bed  appeared  to  be  about  5'  thick 
and  dips  steeply  N.  W.  Both  drifts  show  decomposed  slate 
carrying  hematite  ore.  Another  open  shaft  16'  deep,  further 
south-west  50',  shows  about  3'  of  ore  slate  under  10'-12'  cover 
of  dirt  and  clay. 

Immediately  south  100  yards,  a  pile  of  open  cellular  hem- 
atite lies  on  the  ground,  claimed  to  have  been  raised  here. 
No  opening  was  seen,  however.  The  ore  is  said  to  have 
analysed  35  per  cent  iron.  It  is  largely  mixed  with  red 
slate. 

It  is  possible  that  this  ore  was  taken  from  an  opening  200' 
south  in  No.  V,  where  a  calcareous  bed  15'  thick  between 
red  and  olive  slates  is  exposed  in  the  woods. 

The  bed  dips  steeply  N.  W.,  and  the  limestone  is  appar- 
ently quite  pure,  though  siliceojis.  Seams  of  quartz  inter- 
cept the  bed  but  are  not  a  prominent  feature. 

Another  appearance  of  ore  occurs  in  the  creek  250  yards 
south  of  last  locality,  and  apparently  corresponds  in  posi- 
tion to  the  block  ore  near  the  base  of  V. 

Here  it  seems  more  like  a  thickly-stained  ferruginous 
sandstone  greatly  disintegrated.  It  shows  on  the  west  side 
of  the  creek,  close  to  the  base  of  the  hill,  though  the  slope 
is  so  covered  with  bowlders  of  Medina  sandstone  that  it  is 
but  poorly  denned.  It  trends  about  S.  50°  W.  This  ore 
is  claimed  to  have  been  mined  high  in  the  mountain,  where 
it  showed  in  better  shape,  no  doubt  due  to  the  greater  de- 
composition at  the  outcrop. 

This  same  bed  has  been  mined  south  of  Howard. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  creek  here,  on  road  leading  through 
Curtin's  gap,  there  is  a  bed  of  clay  which  has  furnished  the 
neighboring  furnaces  for  years  with  clay  for  patching 
tuyeres,  etc.  It  is  plastic,  while  quite  firm,  and  shows  but 
little  gritty  material. 

The  Milesburg  road  south  of  Curtin  Station  shows  some 
little  indications  of  VI  at  the  cross-roads  south  of  the  water- 
station.  On  road  summit,  limestone  of  VI  shows  in  a  broken 
outcrop,  better  exposed  south  in  the  quarries  already  men- 
tioned and  dipping  80°  X.  W. 

Another  small  quarry  shows  VI  just  south  of  Curtin's 


284  T.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

foundry,  turned  over  at  outcrop  but  really  dipping  K  W. 
70°-80°. 

From  the  rolling  mill  east  to  the  Howard  line  exposures 
of  the  Lower  Helderberg  limestone,*  in  addition  to  those 
already  mentioned,  occur  along  the  line  of  the  old  B.  E. 
canal,  showing  a  blue  gray  limestone,  often  slaty  and  crushed 
at  the  outcrop,  with  dips  of  about  IS".  35°  W.  50°-60°. 

East,  beyond  cemetery  on  the  hill,  and  south  of  the  road 
in  a  small  ravine,  there  is  another  exposure  of  generally  slaty 
stone,  with  some  good  pure  limestone  layers,  formerly  quar- 
ried for  the  Pleasant  furnace.  The  dip  is  about  N.  28°  W. 
20°.  The  exposure  is  small,  but  serves  to  locate  the  crop 
line  of  No.  VI,  which  all  through  here  seems  to  occur  at  the 
foot  of  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain  in  low  knobs,  often  broken 
through  in  the  line  of  their  outcrop  and  superficially  covered 
with  drift  and  sand  from  the  mountain. 

Oriskciny  sandstone  No.  VII  is  generally  well  marked 
in  this  township,  having  been  opened  in  two  quarries  for 
hearth-stones  for  the  Pleasant  furnace. 

The  first  of  these,  on  the  west  along  B.  E.  creek,  was  ad- 
vantageously worked  before  the  abandonment  of  the  canal, 
and  shows  an  exposure  of  excellent  white  sandstone  but 
little  stained  or  rusty,  dipping  K  32°  W.  44°. 

The  exposure  is  75'±  thick,  and  is  probably  on  the  same 
out-crop  as  that  opened  200  rods  east  in  a  quarry  on  the 
road  already  mentioned,  which  shows  dips  of  50°-60°  N.  A\r. 


The  various  ravines  leading  up  to  the  Allegheny  mount- 
ain plateau  show  good  exposures  of  the  overlying  Devonian 
and  sub-carboniferous  measures. 

Thus,  beginning  on  the  west,  a  section  up  the  Wallis  run 
road  and  Snow  Shoe  railroad,  shows  the  Marcellus  black 
slate  in  place  about  100'  north  of  the  school  house,  dipping 
N.  20°,  W.  45°,  disintegrating  rapidly  and  creating  a  good 
rich  soil  all  through  the  flat  north  of  the  valley  road. 

The  road  up  to  Crider's  shows  loose  pieces  of  slate  and  a 
slaty  soil  varying  from  a  black  through  green  to  gray  cast, 
getting  more  firm  and  massive  northwards,  and  finally  ex- 


9.     BOGGS  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  285 

posed  in  a  20'  bluff  just  above  Older' s,  dipping  IS".  18°  TT. 
15°.  They  are  next  well  exposed  100  yards  north,  where 
they  dip  about  22°,  and  have  become  again  fissile  and 
black  with  a  reddish  cast  at  outcrop  (G-enesee). 

No.  VIII  continues  north  to  the  ravine  coming  down  from 
the  east  to  the  church  at  C.  Lucas  Sr.'s,  red  bands  of  the 
Catskill  rocks  there  coming  in  and  creating  a  marked  change 
in  the  color  of  the  soil  and  the  character  of  the  topography. 

Taking  the  railroad  from  here,  frequent  exposures  of  red 
sandstone  and  shale  show  around  curve  to  Crider's  mill,  all 
with  a  north-west  dip.  At  10-mile  post  to  the  north,  6  feet 
of  sandstone  shows,  holding  in  center  a  layer  of  blue  con- 
glomeritic  quartz  flags  2'  thick.  Switch  Back  No.  1  is  laid 
right  in  the  bed  of  the  stream,  and  considerable  stone  was 
filled  in  here  for  making  grade. 

The  bulk  of  this  shows  green  and  bluish  and  olive-colored 
flags,  unlike  the  gritty  red  sandstone  and  fissile  red  shale 
of  the  rest  of  the  formation  of  IX. 

Between  Switch  Backs  Nos.  3  and  4  a  20'  bed  of  red  sand- 
stone, massive  and  capped  with  shale,  dipping  15°  N.  W., 
is  exposed  at  several  points. 

North  of  and  above  this,  divided  ,by  shaly  bands,  a  25' 
bed  of  sandstone  shows  in  railroad  cut,  dipping  N.  W.  10°- 
14°.  At  the  next  curve  north  the  following  section  of  still 
higher  measures  shows : 

Surface  soil, 4' 

Brown  and  red  broken  shaly  sandstone,     ...  2' 

Red  shale,             2' 

Impure  red  sandstone, 1'     6' 

Iron-stained  shales  with  olive  bands, 5'     0' 

Massive  gray  and  red  flags,        3'    6' 

Shales,  mostly  of  a  reddish  cast,     1'    6' 

Massive  block  sandstone  and  flags, 15'     6' 

The  north  end  of  exposure  shows  : 

Top  soil JO' 

Red  sandstone  bands, 2' 

Shaly  sandstone, 1'    6" 

Broken  red  shale,       4' 

Flaggy  red  sandstone, 2' 

Massive  brown  stone, 4'-j- 

This  is  part  of  the  McCafferty  Bros.'  quarry,  who  have 


286  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

supplied  the  town  of  Bellefonte  with  some  excellent  paving 
flags,  and  I  believe  also  the  brown  stone  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church.  If  so,  the  decaying  condition  of  this  edifice  de- 
monstrates a  lack  of  first-class  weathering  capacity  in  this 
stone.  The  exposure  is  about  500  yards  long  and  presents 
the  best  section  of  these  Catskill  rocks  seen  in  the  county. 

North  of  the  14  M.  P.  shaly  red  sandstone  outcrops  for 
100',  dipping  gently  N.  W.  North  of  this  the  railroad 
curves  through  12'  of  No.  IX  flaggy  red  sandstone,  beauti- 
fully ripple  marked,  and  showing  several  reed-like  impres- 
sions of  calamites,  some  of  them  a  foot  long. 

From  here  to  Walker's  cross-roads  the  transition  beds  of 
Catskill-Pocono  occur,  consisting  of  more  or  less  shaly  green 
and  gray  beds,  mixed  with  thin  red  beds,  and  capped  with  a 
fine-grained  white  conglomerate  sandstone  of  Pocono  type. 

This  whole  mass  of  Catskill  beds  approximates  2600'  in 
thickness,  inclusive  of  the  400'-500'  of  Pocono-Catskill 
beds  near  the  top  of  the  formation,  here  rather  more  sug- 
gestive of  Catskill  than  Pocono  age  and  so  considered  in 
the  vertical  section  on  the  map. 

The  Catskill  rocks  extend  far  up  the  west  branch  of 
Wallis  run  through  Glen  Harris,  where  the  stream  has  cut 
a  deep  gorge  in  the  hill,  through  which  a  tramroad  3  miles 
long  is  laid  to  the  site  of  the  present  logging  operations  of 
the  Messrs.  Crider. 

No.  IX  occurs  high  in  the  hill  sides,  capped  with  Pocono 
sandstone  X  at  first,  and  farther  north  along  the  Snow  Shoe 
line  by  the  conglomerate  measures  of  the  Allegheny  moun- 
tain crest. 

There  are  no  exposures  of  X  in  place  along  the  railroad, 
but  its  terrace  flanks  on  the  south  the  Indian  Grave  hill  of 
XII  at  the  summit,  the  latter  conglomerate  making  the 
real  crest  of  the  mountain  all  along  the  north  border  of  the 
township.  No.  XI  Mauch  Chunk  red  shale  was  nowhere 
identified  here. 

Wallis  run  proper,  from  where  it  leaves  the  railroad  to 
Walker's  summit,  has  deeply  grooved  the  country,  so  that 
on  the  summit  of  the  mountain  road,  near  the  junction  of 
X.  the  creek  flows  in  a  gorge  300'  lower  down. 


9.     BOGGS  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  287 

At  A.  and  J.  Ackley's  red  shale  and  sandstone  (IX)  shows 
a  dip  of  N.  22°  W.  10°.  Two  hundred  yards  north  at  the 
bend  of  the  road,  massive  red  sandstone  dips  N.  20°  W.  10°, 
extending  for  50'  along  the  road  and  showing  a  bed  12'  thick. 
Some  few  exposures  are  shaly.  A  distinction  between  the 
red  Catskill  and  red  Pocono  beds  is  hardly  discernible 
along  this  road,  but  the  pebbly  white  rock  of  X  is  well  seen 
on  both  roads  leading  south-east  from  Walker's  on  either 
side  of  Wall  is  run. 

At  the  intersection  of  the  farm  road  to  J.  Williams',  red 
sandstone  shows  coated  with  a  slight  film  of  greenish  ma- 
terial not  unlike  malachite. 

Red,  green,  and  olive  colored  shales  and  sandstones, 
north  of  second  large  bend  in  the  road,  dip  10°-15°  N.  W. 

The  true  Pocono  beds  come  in  near  the  summit  of  the 
road,  replacing  the  red  soil  with  dry  white  sand  and  bould- 
ers, and  showing  in  place  just  around  the  last  bend  of  tho 
road,  dipping  N.  W.  12°. 

The  back  road  from  Walker's  over  the  "Ridges"  shows 
boulders  up  as  far  as  the  second  branch  to  Wallis  run,  de- 
rived from  the  formation  in  place  on  the  hill  top  to  the 
north. 

Beyond  and  going  down  hill-side  the  road  shows  many 
excellent  exposures  of  Pocono-Catskill  and  Catskill  rocks, 
which  the  absence  of  any  dwellings  or  land-marks  renders 
it  difficult  to  describe.  Many  of  them  show  massive  red 
sandstone  beds,  outcropping  in  road  and  impeding  travel, 
but  all  dipping  gently  north-west  into  the  mountain. 

Moose  run,  north  from  Milesburg,  shows  further  sections 
of  these  rocks.  The  lower  Marcellus  slates  show  in  and 
just  north  of  the  village  in  an  extensive  road  cut,  dipping 
40°  N".  W.  Another  exposure  in  the  same  rocks  70'  thick 
shows  on  both  sides  of  road  at  B.  S  S.,  comprising  in  all  a 
mass  of  these  lowest  black  slates  several  hundred  feet 
thick. 

The  upper  Genesee  black  slates  show  south  from  the  in- 
tersection of  small  lane  to  the  east,  iron-stained  and  fissile, 
dipping  35  N.  W.  and  200'  thick. 

North  of  this  exposure  the  lowest  Portage  flags  and  sand- 


288  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

stones, — green  and  yellow,  iron-stained, — crop  near  D.  Wat- 
son's, dipping  N.  W.  30°  for  25  yards  along  the  road. 
Flags  and  brittle  Chemung  sandstone  and  olive  shales  show 
at  Reside' s  intersection  and  at  Hollo wbaugh's,  dipping 20°- 
15°  N.  W.,  succeeded  by  transition  Chemung-Catskill  rocks, 
and  finally  by  the  red  beds  of  No.  IX  in  the  bolder  hills 
north  of  the  ridge  roads.  The  road  through  Holt's  hollow 
shows  No.  VIII  shales  and  flags  at  forks,  dipping  N.  30° 
W.  10°,  and  again  1  mile  south  at  small  run  entering  from 
east,  dipping  N.  32°  W.  15°. 

Numerous  additional  exposures  may  be  seen  in  any  of 
the  several  ravines  and  hollows  cutting  down  these  slate 
hills ;  but  the  character  of  the  rock  mass  and  dip  of  the 
measures  vary  but  slightly. 

Between  D.  C.  Poorman's  and  the  Bald  Eagle  valley  road, 
black  and  gray  Marcellus  slate  of  VIII  dips  in  an  excellent 
exposure  N.  28°  W.  30°.  The  same  rocks  show  along  the 
valley  road  to  Curtin's  furnace,  confined  to  a  low  ridge  just 
north  of  the  road,  and  especially  well  displayed  for  about 
100  yards  on  each  side  of  the  school-house,  dipping  N. 
18°-25°  W.  15°-22°.  This  dark, blue-black  fissile  slate  usually 
weathers  to  a  light  clay,  no  doubt  due  to  some  extent  to 
the  intermittent  lime  layers  frequently  occurring  as  balls  at 
the  base  of  this  formation.  Slate  15'  thick  occurs  at  the 
junction  of  Antis  run  road,  dipping  about  N.  16°  W.  25°, 
and  the  brownish  shales  and  sandstones  of  the  Hamilton 
group  at  L.  Dixon's  further  north,  dipping  N.  14°  W.  20°. 

At  the  next  stream,  a  firm  and  compact  sandstone  mixed 
with  slate  layers  of  a  rather  reddish  cast  dips  N.  20°  W.  18°, 
succeeded  further  north  by  a  series  of  good  dips  in  the 
creek  bed,  all  averaging  about  18°  from  R.  Nyman's  north. 

Above  the  next  lane  entering  from  the  east  a  good  40' 
exposure  of  mixed  shales  and  flags  dips  N.  W.  20°,  rusty 
and  iron-stained.  An  exposure  500  yards  north  shows  red- 
dish olive-colored  and  white  flaggy  sandstones  and  slates 
dipping  15°  N.  W.,  followed  above  next  run  by  dips  of  12° 
and  15°  in  green  and  gray  shales  up  to  the  junction  of  the 
red  Catskill  rocks. 

From  here  north  these  red  rocks  occupy  a  distinct  and 


9.     BOGGS  TOWNSHIP.  T.  289 

higher  range  of  parallel  hills,  allowing  the  shales  of  YHIto 
swing  up  the  various  coves,  but  carrying  themselves  the 
massive  red  sandstone  beds  which  make  up  the  dividing 
ridge  to  the  Marsh  creek  country. 

Between  Curtin's  works  and  the  Howard  line  an  almost 
continuous  exposure  of  the  Marcellus  slates  and  shales  shows 
along  valley  road  north  of  Beech  creek. 

North  of  the  quarry  in  No.  VII,  at  the  eastern  end  of  the 
township,  No.  VIII  crops,  dipping  N.  40°  W.  40°,  and  ex- 
posed at  intervals  for  the  next  600  yards,  though  with  no 
good  dips. 

Various  exposures  to  the  railroad  show  dips  of  from  N.  40° 
W.  35°  in  fine  dark  gray  slate,  to  N.  45°  W.  32°  and  N.  48° 
W.  30°  in  a  railroad  cut  about  50'  east  of  E.  end  of  bridge 
over  Bald  Eagle  creek.  The  slates  occur  in  a  bluff  40'  high, 
covered  by  about  20'  of  alluvial  drift  and  bowlders  of  the 
mountain  formations. 

The  exposures  along  the  north  valley  road  above  mentioned 
show  some  reddish  and  blue  bands,  but  mostly  a  dark  gray 
slate,  compact  and  massive  on  the  west,  and  grading  east- 
ward into  a  more  shaly  and  fissile  black  slate,  in  bluffs  30' 
high  and  with  dips  of*N.  25°-30°  W.  20°-25°. 

A  thin  bed  of  argillaceous  limestone  occurs  in  the  road 
the  base  of  the  slate  just  west  of  Dowdy's  run. 

The  Catskill  red  rocks  show  little  variation  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  township  from  that  given  in  the  Wallis  run  sec- 
tion. Any  one  of  the  numerous  roads  leading  north  or 
south  from  the  valley  of  Marsh  creek  (which  takes  its  rise 
in  the  rocks  of  this  formation  in  this  township)  will  expose 
the  same  sequence  of  red  shale  and  sandstone  measures, 
and  a  reference  to  the  colored  geological  county  map  will 
show  the  direction  and  amount  of  dip  in  these  strata. 

Along  Marsh  creek  these  rarely  exceed  15°  and  decline 
northwards  towards  the  Pocono  ridges  to  8°  and  10°. 

The  whole  formation  through  Centre  county  seems  to  be 
devoid  of  economical  value,  and  is  only  sparsely  cultivated. 
Various  reports  of  copper  finds  and  indeed  even  gold,  silver 
and  tin  !  reached  my  ears  during  the  progress  of  my  survey, 
but  it  seems  hardly  necessary  to  tell  the  inhabitants  of 
19  T4. 


290  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'ltfVILLIERS. 

these  districts  that  it  would  be  simply  sending  money  to 
the  bad  to  devote  it  to  exploring  the  territory  for  any  of 
these  metals. 

Even  the  small  and  worthless  coal  and  iron  ore  beds  men- 
tioned as  occurring  in  this  formation  in  Report  F,  in  Hun- 
tingdon county,  were  nowhere  detected  here,  so  that,  in  a 
commercial  sense,  the  various  efforts  to  prove  these  rocks 
productive  will  undoubtedly  prove  failures. 

10.  Howard  township. 

The  Bald  Eagle  mountain  is  again  gapped  in  this  town- 
ship south  of  Howard  and  a  fairly  representative  section  of 
the  rocks  of  IV  are  exposed. 

The  dividing  line  between  Howard  and  Marion  townships- 
is  not  straight,  as  an  inspection  of  the  map  will  show,  but 
bent  in  the  middle  with  the  angle  turned  towards  the  south. 
It  generally  marks  the  trend  of  the  middle  or  red  Medina 
member  of  IV. 

The  rocks  of  this  member  are  extensively  exposed  on  both 
sides  of  the  gorge,  everywhere  a  red  sandstone  and  shale 
without  the  conglomerate  base  that  characterizes  it  further 
south  in  the  Kishacoquillas  and  other  valleys  of  the  Seven 
mountains.  These  rocks  in  the  Howard  gap  decompose 
readily,  but  do  not  show  any  of  the  green  and  olive  slates 
seen  in  the  Belief  onte  gap.  Some  400'  north  of  the  toll  gate 
compact  and  shaly  sandstone  dips  to  the  north-west  from 
75°-80°,  having  had  a  nearly  vertical  dip  further  south. 

The  upper  white  Medina  sandstone  shows  here  as  else- 
where an  unusually  persistent  and  well  characterized  rock 
consisting  of  hard  white  and  greenish-gray  siliceous  beds. 
It  contains  few  or  no  pebbles,  and  is  more  compact  and 
finer  grained  than  the  underlying  gray  Oneida  member  of 
the  series. 

Its  great  hardness  has  preserved  it  everywhere  through 
this  monoclinal  ridge  as  the  distinct  crest,  the  lower  mem- 
ber occasionally  attaining  an  equal  elevation,  but  usually 
forming  an  outer  terrace  to  the  south. 

All  the  dips  in  this  gap  are  steeply  north-west. 

The  white  Medina  sandstone  is  succeeded  by  the  Clinton 


10.    HOWARD  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  291 

No.  V  red  shale  and  sandstone,  exposed  back  of  the  saw 
mill  or  tannery  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek  where  some  old 
ore  drifts  on  the  lower  or  block  ore  bed  are  exposed. 

In  past  times  some  considerable  ore  digging  was  carried 
on  in  this  formation,  high  up  on  the  mountain  crest ;  but  as 
they  have  long  since  been  abandoned  I  quote  the  following 
remarks  from  Prof.  Rogers'  Final  Report,  Vol.  I,  page  547,  on 
the  occurrence  of  these  ores  of  V.  "Near  Howard  furnace 
the  '  block  ore '  has  been  successfully  reached  and  mined  on 
the  N.  "W.  slopes  of  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain  by  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  Howard  iron  works.  Its  outcrop  is  more 
than  half  way  towards  the  summit  of  the  ridge. 

The  strata  inclosing  it  dip  70°  to  N.  30°  W.,  and  the  ore 
bed  lies  about  60  yards  S.  E.,  or  further  in  the  mountain 
than  the  fossiliferous  ore,  which  has  likewise  been  discov- 
ered here,  and  regularly  mined  to  a  small  extent. 

The  block  ore  when  seen  in  1852,  was  22  inches  thick, 
and  the  ore  was  moderately  rich,  appearing  to  contain  about 
28  per  cent  of  iron.  The  iron-sandstone,  the  usual  accom- 
paniment of  the  block  ore,  outcrops  in  some  places  in  this 
vicinity  high  in  the  mountain.  The  ore-sandstone  is  appar- 
ently altogether  wanting  here,  unless  a  few  thin  bands  of 
gray  sandstone  in  the  overlying  slates  may  represent  it. 

The  total  thickness  of  the  whole  slate  group,  with  the 
included  iron-sandstone,  is  at  this  place  probably  600  feet. 
Both  the  Surgent  upper  and  lower  slates  decline  in  thick- 
ness as  they  range  S.  W.  while  the  included  iron-sandstone 
augments/' 

The  Howard  gap  is  a  very  beautiful  and  wild  one,  and 
looking  south  from  McDowell  &  Rogers'  mill  on  the  fur- 
nace road,  shows  the  upper  Medina  forming  the  outer  ridge, 
presenting  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek  a  very  irregular  con- 
tour and  ending  at  the  gap  in  a  rounded  knob  or  sugar-loaf 
mountain. 

In  the  background  the  lower  Oneida  mountain  is  seen 
closing  up  the  gap  and  here  attaining  almost  as  great  an 
elevation  as  the  main  crest. 

The  red  Medina  occupies  the  intervening  cove  between 
the  two  mountain  ribs. 


292  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGBESS.       E.  V.  1XINVILLIERS. 

A  peculiar  feature  of  all  these  gaps  is  the  easterly  cutting 
action  of  the  eroding  streams,  owing  to  the  north-west  dip 
of  the  measures,  always  issuing  from  the  outer  mountain 
east  of  the  point  of  attack  in  the  terrace  crest. 

The  crest  of  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain  from  here  west  to 
the  Bellefonte  gap  is  singularly  uneven  and  curved  in  a  suc- 
cession of  summits  and  its  slope  covered  with  bowlders. 

Prom  the  Boggs  to  the  Liberty  line  the  B.  E.  Y.  R.  R.  is 
entirely  in  the  Lower  Helderberg  limestones  of  YI,  but  the 
formation  itself  is  considerably  hidden  by  a  mass  of  drift 
and  bowlders  from  the  mountain  to  the  south. 

No.  VI  makes  essentially  the  valley  bottom  in  this  town- 
ship, nowhere  rising  to  the  prominence  of  a  ridge  as  it  does 
further  west  at  the  Boggs  line,  where  a  single  exposure 
shows  high  up  against  the  mountain  in  a  knoll  on  J.  Glenn's 
place,  dipping  45°  N.  W. 

On  the  north  side  of  Bald  Eagle  creek,  on  the  small  road 
crossing  the  railroad  track  at  the  water-station,  No.  VI  is 
exposed  in  a  low  hill,  just  beside  the  abandoned  canal,  dip- 
ping N.  25°  W.  38°,  25'  thick,  and  carrying  No.  VII  Oriskany 
sandstone  on  top. 

The  limestone  area  broadens  going  east,  and  the  dip  flat- 
tens. No.  VII  occurs  north  of  the  creek  as  far  as  Mount 
Eagle  station,  and  from  there  to  within  £  mile  of  Howard 
the  creek  forms  a  natural  boundary  between  VI  and  VII. 

The  north  line  can  be  continued  straight  out  to  Liberty 
township  line,  which  it  crosses  about  200  yards  north  of 
Fletcher's  work-shop  on  the  valley  road. 

Bowlders  everywhere  show  a  rather  siliceous  and  fossil- 
iferous  limestone,  which  adds  considerably  to  the  fertility 
of  the  valley. 

Oriskany  sandstone  No.  VII  occupies  the  high  ground 
immediately  north  of  the  creek,  making  a  narrow  but  prom- 
inent ridge  300  yards  wide. 

Where  eroded,  in  the  flat  north  of  Howard,  this  formation 
can  be  distinctly  traced  by  a  heavy  deposit  of  white  and 
buff-colored  sand. 

As  far  east  as  Bullet's  run  the  ridge  is  flat,  and  shows  no 


10.    HOWAHD  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  293 

outcrops  in  place ;  but  crossing  the  stream,  the  road  passes 
along  a  hill  of  VII,  which  has  been  trenched  along  its  sum- 
mit for  about  700  yards  in  various  places.  All  these  trenches 
show  from  10-30  feet  of  good,  pure,  vitreous  white  sand- 
stone, dipping  N.  40°  W.  20°-30°,  and  furnishing  excellent 
sand  for  glass- making. 

The  largest  opening  is  probably  on  J.  B.  Leather's  prop- 
erty, where  a  •  considerable  amount  of  quarrying  had  been 
done  formerly  for  the  Bellefonte  glass  works. 

The  crest  of  the  hill  is  generally  south  of  the  road  with 
No.  VIII  Marcellus  black  slate  on  its  north  flank,  showing 
on  the  road  about  200  yards  west  of  Green  run  in  a  patch 
on  top  of  the  hill.  East  of  Canoe  run  No.  VII  dips  N.  36° 
W.  28°. 

All  through  this  hill  the  sandstone  is  made  up  of  a  mass 
of  characteristic  fossil  shells. 

The  rock  decomposes  readily  into  a  thick  sand  deposit. 
High  ground  is  again  seen  close  to  the  Liberty  line,  where 
on  the  township  road  some  tests  for  the  Oriskany  iron  ore 
have  been  made  on  top  of  the  hill  by  shafts  70'+  deep  to  VI. 
In  this  county  this  formation  can  hardly  be  said  to  be 
ferriferous,  though  thin  seams  of  siliceous  hematite  often 
occur  in  the  rock,  discoloring  the  sand. 

This  is  well  seen  in  Leather' s  quarries,  and  the  presence 
of  this  iron  no  doubt  led  to  its  abandonment  for  glass-mak- 
ing. There  is  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  this  rock  wherever 
exposed  in  the  county,  being  marked  by  an  abundance  of 
cavities  marking  the  place  of  former  fossils,  which  being 
generally  of  a  large  size,  attract  the  attention  of  even  care- 
less observers. 

This  rock  has  been  successfully  used  for  hearthstones  in 
the  charcoal  furnaces  of  the  valley,  and  while  not  being  as 
refractory  as  the  conglomerate  of  XII,  it  furnishes  a  readily 
quarried  and  useful  substitute.  The  extreme  thickness  of 
this  formation  in  the  county  does  not  exceed  130'. 

The  only  other  rocks  occurring  in  this  township  are  those 
of  the  next  higher  formation  No.  VIII,  if  I  except  the  small 
patch  of  red  Catskill  No.  IX  occupying  the  extreme  N.  W. 
corner. 


294  T\      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

The  lines  of  contact  as  between  Marcellus.  Hamilton, 
Genesee,  etc.,  cannot  be  located  with  any  more  precision 
than  has  been  elsewhere  possible  in  the  Allegheny  foot- 
hills. 

In  general,  however,  topography  assists  us  materially. 
Thus  the  lowest  Marcellus  black  slates  everywhere  make  up 
the  low,  rounded,  flat  hill  north  of  the  sharp  Oriskany  SS. 
ridge,  showing,  where  weathered,  a  tendency  to  split  up 
into  fissile  layers  of  reddish-brown  slates  and  carrying  len- 
ticular flattened  masses  of  dark,  carbonaceous  limestone  in 
the  lower  measures,  which  adds  considerably  to  the  fertility 
of  the  soil. 

This  will  account  for  the  cultivation  of  this  entire  range 
of  conical  hills  in  this  township. 

Any  of  the  numerous  streams  rising  higher  to  the  north 
in  Portage  and  Chemung  ground  show  outcrops  of  this 
black  slate,  weathering  finally  to  a  gray,  argillaceous  clay. 
So  on  the  road  up  Bullet  run,  a  good  exposure  of  this  slate 
shows  just  south  of  the  intersection  at  Riddle's  house,  dip- 
ping N.  35°  W.  30°.  Again  opposite  Riddle's  house  30  feet 
of  massive  black  slate  with  limestone  masses  dips  N.  32°  W. 
30°.  At  Hughes'  place,  further  north,  Hamilton  rocks  are 
exposed,  dipping  30°  N.  W.  in  a  sequence  of  variegated 
shale,  slate  and  sandstone  of  a  blue-gray  color  when  fresh, 
and  weathering  brown  at  the  edges. 

No  regularity  of  deposit  is  noticeable  in  the  various  lay- 
ers, as  they  apparently  blend  into  one  another  within  short 
distances.  These  rocks,  however,  mark  a  line  of  long, 
smooth  and  partially  cultivated  hills,  cut  through  by  vari- 
ous streams,  but  of  slightly  bolder  outline  than  those  first 
mentioned. 

North  of  these  a  higher  and  wilder  range  of  hills  supports 
the  Portage  and  Chemung  group  of  flags,  sandstones,  and 
olive  slates,  the  intermediate  cove  holding  the  softer  Gene- 
see  black  slates,  and  making  the  Hamilton  group  form 
really  a  terrace  on  the  Portage  hills  to  the  north. 

The  forks  of  the  road  at  McQuillan's  old  house  show  a  fine 
outcrop  of  Portage  flags  of  a  light  green-gray  color,  accom- 
panied with  dark  slate. 


11.    LIBERTY  TOWNSHIP.  T*.  295 

The  road  leading  from  Howard  north  over  the  hill  to  S. 
Brickley's  on  Marsh  creek,  in  Cnrtin  township,  shows  black 
slates  to  the  forks  at  Mrs.  Packer's,  succeeded  by  gray  and 
olive-green  shales,  brown  slates,  and  finally  flagstones  and 
shales,  making  a  steep  hill  up  to  the  summit,  360'  above 
Howard. 

Some  little  tendency  to  a  conglomerate  is  seen  in  the 
Chemung  sandstones  on  the  north  slope  of  the  Marsh  creek 
divide,  accompanied  with  brown  and  olive  shales  and  sand- 
stone to  the  creek  bed,  310'  below,  though  nowhere  out- 
cropping. 

Bald  Eagle  creek  swings  north  into  VIII  north  of  Howard 
as  far  as  N.  Askey's,  showing  a  dip  of  30°  N.  W.  at  the 
school-house.  North  of  the  Oriskany  ridge,  on  the  road 
leading  out  from  the  cemetery,  VIII  black  slate  shows  just 
at  the  bend  of  the  road  20'  thick  in  a  quarry,  dipping  32° 
N".  N.  W.,  and  succeeded  in  100  yards  by  a  dip  in  brown 
and  olive  slates  of  28°,  and  these  by  Hamilton  massive 
brown  slate  and  shale  at  R.  Fletcher's,  dipping  N.  W.  20°. 

11.  Liberty  township. 

From  Beech  creek  station  to  Eagleville  the  railroad  shows, 
no  outcrops  in  place,  but  everywhere  a  heterogeneous  soil 
mixture  of  sand  and  bowlders  of  IV,  V,  and  VI. 

Midway  between  the  stations  the  mountain  to  the  south 
shows  a  considerable  gap  in  the  Medina  crest ;  but  the  ter- 
race mountain  of  Oneida  is  not  cut  through  anywhere  in 
this  township. 

The  Bald  Eagle  valley  is  considerably  spread  out  here 
owing  to  the  wide  breach  in  the  first  range  of  slate  hills 
made  by  Beech  and  Marsh  creeks. 

The  valley  narrows  and  deepens  considerably  going  west, 
with  a  low  flat  Oriskany  sandstone  to  the  north  supporting 
the  Marcellus  slates  on  its  north  flank  and  washed  by  Bald 
Eagle  creek  on  the  south. 

The  mountain  is  again  partially  gapped  south  of  the 
Mountain  house  at  Eagleville  station,  carrying  a  terrace  of 
V  halfway  up  its  north  flank  and  showing  a  superior  eleva- 
tion of  its  white  Medina  member  over  the  Oneida  ridge  to 


296  T4. 


Limestone  quarries  in  Liberty  tp. 
Centre  Co.,  Pa. 


Criderts 


Shanks 
Fig.  2. 


m 

r.  Orlskany  -i/_iJ — / 


Sandstone   '    /[// 


*  Gray  slate 


Good  blue  lime- 
\/2'stone  quarried 
for  burning. 


Priskany 
**  jfone  and  shale. 

(MM) 


impure  limejfon 


\4Slate 


8  Shaty  limestone 


and 

I2grat/  cryslalhne 


'limestone  mixed  \ 
with  r 
bands 


with  red  chert 
ba 


2  Jldte  ana  shale. 

'Impure  cTierty 
lime-stone. 


T4. 


11.    LIBERTY  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  297 

the  south,  both  of  which,  however,  have  very  uneven  crest 
lines. 

Marsh  creek  shows  some  red  soil  of  V  along  its  banks 
south  of  Eagleville,  though  this  is  only  a  derived  deposit, 
probably  brought  down  from  the  Catskill  ridge  to  the  north. 
West  from  Eagleville  the  valley  road  ascends  a  hill  of  VII 
every  where  marked  with  a  thick  deposit  of  sand,  a  profusion 
of  whose  bowlders  lilled  with  unusually  large  and  beautiful 
fossil  casts,  cover  the  Marsh  creek  flat  to  the  east. 

The  crest  of  the  ridge  is  but  little  north  of  the  valley 
road  to  the  Howard  line.  West  from  Leggett's  the  soil 
along  the  road  loses  much  of  its  arenaceous  character,  admit- 
ting in  turn  No.  VI  limestone,  which  500  yards  west  is 
opened  and  well  exposed  in  Crider's  and  Shank's  quarries. 

The  first  of  these  shows  the  junction  of  VI  and  VII  plainly. 
It  is  located  just  north  of  the  public  road  and  exposes  a  face 
of  rock  45'  thick  dipping  N.  28°  W.  26°,  the  upper  12  feet 
of  which  is  No  VII. 

No.  VI  rides  well  up  the  south  flank  and  is  quarried  for 
burning  in  Crider's  kiln.  The  quarry  was  idle  but  shows 
an  excellent  seam  of  blue  limestone  12'  thick  in  the  centre  of 
the  opening.  Some  few  argillaceous  layers  occur  beneath 
this  productive  layer  as  well  as  small  beds  of  red  chert  and 
bastard  limestone. 

One  hundred  yards  west,  close  to  school  house,  the  same 
outcrop  is  opened  in  Shank's  quarry  showing  40'  of  a  face 
with  the  12'  bed  of  good  limestone  in  the  same  relative  posi- 
tion. 

Two  sections  of  these  quarries  are  presented  in  Fig.  — , 
page  296,  for  comparison.  The  dip  is  about  the  same  in 
Shank' s  quarry,  which  was  in  operation  and  furnishing  about 
5000  bushels  of  burnt  lime  a  year  for  fertilizing  and  plaster 
purposes.  The  stone  quarried  here  seems  rather  more  gray 
in  color  and  crystalline. 

Crider. 

No.  VII  Oriskany  SS., 120 

Gray  slate,         .  2' 

Good  blue  limestone,  quarried  for  burning, 12' 

Slate,        4' 

Shaly  limestone,  8' 

Blue  siliceous  limestone  mixed  with  red  chert  bands,   .   .  4' 


298  T\      REPORT  OF 'PROGRESS.       E.  V.  I)'  IXVILLIKU.-. 

Shank. 

No.  VII  Oriskany  SS.  and  shales, 15'  ~\ 

Fossiliferous  impure  limestone,  6'  | 

Good  blue  and  gray  crystalline  limestone, 12'  }  40 

Slate  and  shale,  2'  j 

Impure  cherty  limestone, 5  ) 

Neither  quarry  shows  any  good  fossil  casts. 

Lower  Helderberg  limes  tone,  filled  with  fossils,  dipsN.  25° 
W.  22°  on  the  road  ascending  hill  from  the  creek  at  about 
100  yards  west  of  the  school  house. 

From  here  to  the  Howard  line  the  road  is  all  in  VI,  which 
extends  south  to  the  creek,  where  it  is  several  times  exposed 
dipping  N.  W.  50°-60°. 

Mr.  Schenck  in  sinking  for  ore  in  the  Oriskany  ridge  north 
of  the  road,  reports  going  through  from  80'-100'  of  sand  and 
sandstone  to  a  limestone  floor. 

The  various  roads  and  ravines  running  north  from  the 
main  valley  road  show  the  usual  sections  of  the  different 
members  of  VIII. 

Probably  the  best  is  afforded  by  Marsh  creek,  which  at 
the  Curtinline  carries  the  transition  Catskill-Chemungbeds 
on  both  sides,  the  true  red  rocks  of  IX  having  receded  to  the 
north.  Chemung  gray  and  brown  sandstone  shows  on  the 
hill  to  the  south,  and  passing  over  the  road  summit  475' 
above  Howard,  an  excellent  exposure  of  Portage  flags  is 
seen  at  Thompson's,  dipping  N.  22°  W.  20°. 

At  J.  C.  Beaohdale's  quite  a  mass  of  mixed  red  sand  and 
•white  clay  fills  the  valley  flat,  south-east  of  which,  further 
down  creek,  Chemung  rocks  show  a  dip  of  22°  N.  W.,  suc- 
ceeded in  half  a  mile  by  Portage  flags  and  sandstone  with  a 
dip  of  19°. 

These  are  followed  south  by  an  excellent  exposure  of 
Hamilton  slate,  shales  and  brown  sandstones  opposite 
Clark's  on  the  north  bank  of  the  creek. 

About  one  hundred  feet  of  these  measures  are  exposed 
here  on  D.  Hendricks'  property,  showing  a  very  small 
fault  of  about  22  feet,  inclined  at  an  angle  of  50°  S.  30°  E. 

A  sketch  of  this  exposure  is  given  in  Plate  X,  on  page  300. 

The  dip  at  both  ends  of  the  exposure  is  about  30°  N.  35° 
W.,  with  an  anticlinal  roll  and  a  crushed  synclinal  west 


11.    LIBERTY  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  299 

of  the  line  of  fault.  There  are  also  two  gentle  rolls  on  the 
east  side  of  the  fault  in  sandstone  and  shales. 

Some  little  prospecting  for  ore  has  been  done  in  the 
heavy  blue  sandstones  and  shales,  exposing  a  ferriferous, 
argillaceous,  soapy  slate  with  small  threads  of  hematite. 

The  ore  as  such,  is  generally  worthless. 

The  creek  from  here  south  flows  over  a  clay  soil  of  No. 
VIII  Marcellus  slate  to  the  junction  of  the  Oriskany  sand- 
stone at  Eagleville.  On  the  road  leading  north  out  of  Eagle- 
ville  and  just  south  of  J.  Gunsallis  place,  the  lower  black 
slates  show  in  a  road  cut  60'  thick,  some  gray  and  red 
where  decomposed,  and  dipping  N.  W.  30°.  Several  out- 
crops of  Hamilton  rocks  occur  west  from  the  school-house 
on  the  road  to  Hendricks',  with  north-west  dips  of  25°-280, 
exposing  similar  measures  to  those  along  Marsh  creek. 
Olive,  gray  and  green  slates,  argillaceous,  occur  in  road  bed 
close  to  Marsh  creek  intersection,  with  a  dip  of  25°  N.  W. 

Beech  creek  shows  black  slates  about  1  mile  above  its 
mouth,  dipping  30°  N.  15°  W.,  succeeded  in  500  yards  by 
calcareous  beds  dipping  25°  N.  15°  W.  Still  further  north, 
blue  and  brown  slates  and  olive  shales  show,  overlaid  by  al- 
ternations of  shaly,  olive-colored  rocks  and  argillaceous  sand- 
stones with  same  dip.  Two  miles  above  its  mouth  the  stream 
has  become  confined  to  a  rather  narrow  gap  in  hills  of  Port- 
age and  Chemung  rocks,  capped  with  Catskill  red  layers. 

Higher  and  higher  rocks  successively  come  down  to  the 
creek  bed,  proceeding  northwards  along  the  grade  of  the 
new  railroad,  until  the  transition  micaceous  beds  of  Catskill- 
Chemung  rocks  appear  with  dips  of  20°  N.  18°  W. 

About  5  miles  above  Beech  Creek  town  the  Pocono  beds 
come  down  to  water-level,  dipping  N.  10°  W.  15°,  to  be  suc- 
ceeded in  turn  by  Mauch  Chunk  red  shale  of  XI,  which, 
however,  nowhere  gets  down  to  creek  level  before  entering 
Snow  Shoe  township. 

A  small  patch  of  XII  conglomerate  probably  crowns  the 
hill  top  in  the  extreme  north-west  end  of  the  township,  form- 
ing the  base  rock  of  the  Curtin  township  coal  measures. 

This  completes  the  detailed  geology  of  the  Devonian  and 
sub-carboniferous  measures  of  the  county. 


300  T4. 


Plate  XIL 


tu 


Stales  and  shales 
brown  and  grey 


Sandstones 
and.  shales 


Fault  22' 


•Slates,  red 
and  olive 


SYHCLINAL 

Flags  and  rslales 

ANTICLINAL 


Shaly  sandstone 
and  slate, 


Iron  ore  ( Hematite J 
argillaceous, 


Sandstones  and 
shales,  grey 


Slate, 


T4. 


TOWNSHIPS  S.  E.  OF  BALD  EAGLE  MOUNTAIN.     T4.   301 


Town-shi-ps  S.  E.  of  Bald  Eagle  mountain. 

To  the  south  of  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  the  highest 
rocks  exposed  are  the  bottom  layers  of  the  Clinton  red  shale 
and  sandstone  formation  No.  V,  which  is  only  retained  in 
the  deep  synclinal  trough  of  Pheasant  valley  in  the  Nittany 
mountains  and  in  one  or  two  small  patches  in  the  Seven 
mountains. 

A  study  of  the  cross-section  of  the  county  will  show  how 
the  lower  Silurian  measures  have  been  repeatedly  brough 
to  the  surface  in  successive  folds,  from  off  the  surface  of" 
which  all  the  overlying  upper  Silurian,  Devonian,  sub- 
carboniferous,  and  coal  measure  rocks  have  been  long  since 
been  eroded. 

Pursuing  the  same  plan  in  describing  the  country  south 
of  the  dividing  Bald  Eagle  ridge,  the  following  townships, 
comprising  Nittany  valley  proper,  merit  attention  in  the 
order  named  :  Half  Moon,  Patton,  Benner,  Spring,  Marion, 
and  Walker. 

In  illustrating  the  sections  of  Nittany  valley,  in  chapter 
IV,  on  the  structural  features  of  the  county,  much  was  neces- 
sarily said  concerning  the  character  of  the  various  outcrops, 
while  the  detailed  description  of  the  Lower  Silurian  brown 
hematite  ores  will  relieve  the  description  of  these  valley 
t6wnships  of  those  particulars. 

The  Lower  Silurian  or  Siluro-Cambrian  limestones  No. 
//are  essentially  the  valley  makers  of  this  region,  for  their 
rocks  have  everywhere  more  readily  yielded  to  aarial  and 
subterranean  erosion  than  the  more  resisting  sand  rocks 
now  left  standing  as  mountains. 

These  limestone  rocks  (the  lowest  exposed  in  the  county, 
and  therefore  the  lowest  shown  in  the  vertical  column  of 
PalaBozoic  measures  on  the  colored  county  map)  are  of 
great  thickness  (6000'-}-)  and  may  consequently  be  expected 
to  show  many  forms  of  type. 

But  these  changes  are  not  sudden,  as  is  natural  since 
they  are  oceanic  precipitates,  and  the  lines  of  demarcation 


302  T1.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

on  the  ground  are  almost  everywhere  concealed  by  reason 
of  the  gradual  and  often  imperceptible  change  in  the  consti- 
tution of  the  several  rock  masses  making  up  the  formation. 

Even  the  aid  of  palaeontology  would  assist  but  little  in 
determining  these  transition  lines,  for  with  the  exception  of 
the  upper  Trenton  group,  400±  thick,  the  whole  system  is 
generally  deficient  in  fossil  remains  in  this  county.  No  at- 
tempt, therefore,  has  been  made  to  depict  these  divisions 
on  the  map,  the  whole  formation  being  given  a  cobalt  blue 
color. 

However,  the  lowest  division  (Prof.  Rogers'  Auroral  Mag- 
nesian  limestone)  the  non-fossiliferous  portion,  shows  usu- 
ally two  varieties  of  magnesian  limestone.  Of  these  two 
forms  Prof.  Rogers  says  in  the  Final  Report,  Vol.  I,  p.  470 : 

"  One  of  these  is  a  rock  of  rather  dark,  dull-gray  aspect, 
and  a  crystalline  or  granular  internal  structure. 

''Its  weathered  surface  is  peculiarily  harsh  and  sandy  to 
the  touch,  not  so  much  from  the  presence  of  siliceous  sand 
as  from  the  disintegration  of  the  minute  crystals  which  com- 
pose it.  This  variety  is  decidedly  ferruginous. 

"The  other  portion  of  the  formation  is  a  remarkably 
smooth  and  fine-grained  rock  of  a  very  pale  blue  color,  or 
rather  of  the  tint  called  French  gray.  It  is  very  uniform 
in  its  texture,  and  consists  apparently  of  excessively  com- 
minuted particles  that  have  cohered  into  rock  from  the  con- 
dition of  an  impalpably  fine  pulp.  It  is  highly  magnesian, 
the  weathered  surface  being  coated  with  a  white  crust,  com- 
posed of  carbonate  of  magnesia  and  lime. 

"Besides  these  two  varieties  there  alternate  with  them  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  formation,  some  thinner  masses  of 
non-magnesian  limestone  of  a  clear  and  rather  dull  blue 
color.  Of  the  two  chief  rocks  described,  the  darker  and 
more  crystalline  sort  constitutes  much  the  larger  portion  of 
the  whole  formation,  predominating  greatly  in  the  middle 
and  lower  strata.'5  And  this  fact  will  explain  the  occur- 
rence of  the  better  class  of  ore  mines  along  the  central  part 
of  the  valley  where  these  lower  rocks  are  brought  up  by  the 
anticlinal  axis.  To  this  (auroral)  magnesian  group — corres- 
ponding to  the  Calciferous  and  Black  River  groups  of  New 


TOWNSHIPS  S.  E.  OF  BALD  EAGLE  MOUNTAIN.  T.  BOB 

York— he  assigns  a  thickness  of  5400'  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bellefonte,  the  detailed  measurements  of  which  will  be 
given  in  the  description  of  Spring  township. 

Above  this  Mr.  Rogers  describes  his  Mattnal  limestone — 
corresponding  to  the  Trenton  beds  of  New  York — as  not 
sharply  distinguishable  from  his  magriesian  limestones 
underneath,  either  lithologically  or  palseontologically.  A 
dark-blue  somewhat  carbonaceous  limestone  characterizes 
the  formation,  alternating  throughout  with  light-blue  and 
gray  thin-bedded  fossiliferous  layers,  and  in  the  middle  or 
higher  portions  contains  some  thin  seams  of  dark  blue  shale. 
It  is  the  dark  red  soil  which  the  decomposition  of  this  divi- 
sion affords  that  often  forms  the  only  guide  to  its  identifi- 
cation through  these  limestone  valleys.  This  rock  Mr. 
Rogers  gives  a  thickness  of  300-400  feet  in  Nittany  valley, 
so  that  the  combined  thickness  of  all  divisions  will  yield 
5800  feet. 

Mr.  Sanders'  instrumental  measurements  in  Blair  county, 
Report  T,  page  52,  sub-divide  the  group  into  three  mem- 
bers, as  follows : 

Upper   limestone  series, 5400' 

Middle  white  sandstone  beds, 40' 

Lower  limestone  series,  (with  the  Potsdam), 1160' 

Total,  including  some  Potsdam  layers, 6600' 

It  must  be  remembered  in  comparing  these  sections  that 
the  underlying  Potsdam  sandstone  formation  No.  I  is  no- 
where exposed  in  this  county,  and  the  40  feet  of  "middle 
white  sandstone  beds"  in  his  section  may  well  correspond 
to  similar  measures  exposed  on  the  Centre  Hall  pike  just  at 
the  anticlinal  arch. 

Above  this  limestone  formation  No.  II,  comes  the  Hud- 
son river  slates  No.  Ill,  which  everywhere  intervene  be- 
tween the  limestone  of  the  valley  and  the  sandrocks  of  the 
various  mountain  ranges  through  this  southern  division  of 
the  county.  Prof.  Rogers  also  sub-divides  them  into : 

(a.)  Matinal  black  slate  (Utica  slate  of  New  York),  a 
dark-blue  carbonaceous  slate  and  shale,  fissile  in  its  lower 
beds,  containing,  though  nowhere  in  profusion,  character- 
istic fossils.  Thickness,  300. 


304  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

(b.)  Matinal  shales  (Hudson  river  slate),  consisting  of 
blue  and  greenish-gray  shale,  alternating  with  gray,  calca- 
reous, and  argillaceous  sandstone  in  thin  beds.  Thickness, 
700'. 

My  own  measurements  on  the  vertical  section  through 
the  Bellefonte  gap  gave  1011'  for  the  combined  thickness 
of  these  two  members.  With  this  general  summary  of  the 
character  of  these  valley  formations,  I  will  proceed  to  point 
out  some  few  of  the  detailed  geological  features  in  the 
various  townships. 

12.  Half  Moon  township. 

The  main  anticlinal  of  the  Nittany  valley  is  represented 
in  this  township  in  Buck  or  Chestnut  ridge,  the  most 
northern  hill  of  the  "barrens,"  and  exposing  the  lowest 
rocks. 

These  rocks  make  quite  a  prominent  ridge  here,  dying 
gradually  eastward.  Very  few  exposures  of  these  arena- 
ceous rocks  are  seen,  for  they  disintegrate  rapidly  and  fall 
into  sand,  creating  a  dry  and  barren  soil  and  sustain  but 
little  vegetation. 

Chestnut  and  oak  timber  and  stunted  pine,  however,  take 
foot-hold  well. 

Occasionally  an  impure  siliceous  blue  limestone  crops  on 
the  flanks  of  these  ridges,  making  ribs  which  in  the  eastern 
end  of  the  county  form  a  distinct  ridge  or  terrace  on  the 
main  crest. 

The  Loveville  ore  bank  lies  just  north  of  Chestnut  ridge, 
in  limestone,  hard  and  siliceous,  dipping  45°  S.  E.  This 
rock  supports  a  northern  low  but  prominent  limestone  ridge 
between  Chestnut  hill  and  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  whose 
dips  are  nearly  all  overturned. 

Still  higher  limestones  crop  along  the  valley  road,  dip- 
ping 80°  S.  E..  overturned  on  J.  Gray's  farm,  but  N.  40° 
W.  80°  on  the  road  to  Scotia,  south  from  Stormstown,  and 
carrying  a  slight  ore  crop  about  500  yards  further  south  to- 
wards the  crest. 

This  ridge  carries  the  Desert,  Gray  and  other  banks  in 
Patton  township. 


13.    PATTOX  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  305 

The  Juniata  Mining  Co.'s  operations  are  carried  on  at 
"Tow  Hill,"  south  from  Stormstown,  a  full  description  of 
which  will  be  found  in  chapter  X. 

East  of  Stormstown  the  hard,  siliceous,  magnesian  lime- 
stone with  quartz  veins  stands  vertically  in  the  road  near 
the  school. 

Between  the  valley  road  and  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain 
the  Trenton  upper  limestones  occur,  and  their  steep  dip 
has  lead  to  their  rapid  erosion  through  the  valley  of  Half 
Moon  run. 

But  one  exposure  of  the  slates  of  III  was  obtained  in  this 
township  on  the  west  road  over  the  mountain  to  Port  Ma- 
tilda, dipping  apparently  62°  S.  22°  E.,  no  doubt  overturned 
to  that  amount.  About  45'  of  slate  is  exposed  here,  some- 
what quarried  for  road  ballast. 

The  Oneida  and  red  Medina  SS.  of  No.  IV  lie  further 
north,  with  the  upper  or  white  Medina  forming  the  Worth 
township  line  and  divide  between  Half  Moon  and  Taylor 
and  Worth  townships. 

None  of  these  rocks  show  any  special  features  here. 

Fully  one  half  of  the  area  of  this  township  is  occupied 
by  the  sandy  measures  of  the  "Barrens." 

13.  Patton  township. 

The  same  class  and  number  of  formations  occur  in  this 
township  as  already  described  in  Half  Moon  adjoining  it  on. 
the  west. 

The  Chestnut  Hill  "Barrens"  are  still  continued  in  this 
township,  though  sinking  rapidly  with  the  anticlinal  which, 
exposed  them,  until  between  the  Pond  and  Markle  banks, 
the  higher  magnesian  limestone  beds  completely  encircle  its 
eastern  end,  whence  eastward  they  no  more  appear  until 
again  brought  up  in  Sand  ridge  3  miles  east  of  Bellefonte. 

The  township  is  rich  in  iron  ore,  the  Scotia,  Ackley,  Lytle, 
Scott,  Pond,  Newell,  Tar  Hollow  banks  in  the  barrens,  with 
the  Desert,  Lambourn,  Markle,  Crust  and  smaller  openings 
in  the  higher  measures,  all  tending  to  characterize  this  town- 
ship as  one  of  great  economical  importance.  These  openings 
have  all  been  described  in  their  proper  place. 
20  T4. 


306  T*.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

The  "Barrens"  are,  as  usual,  unproductive  of  outcrops, 
and  present  the  same  heavy  deposit  of  sand  and  cherty  lime- 
stone bowlders  before  mentioned. 

The  upper  magnesian  limestone,  forming  the  gentle  ridge 
between  the  main  hill  and  valley  road,  is  again  exposed  in 
several  places  in  this  township. 

North  of  the  Desert  bank  it  dips  60°  N.  W.,  but  further 
east  at  the  gap  of  a  branch  to  Buffalo  run,  it  is  probably 
overturned,  dipping  S.  48°  E.  65°,  beautifully  exposed  in 
Jacob  and  Miles  Mattern's  quarry. 

Selected  beds  make  a  very  good  quality  of  lime.  Wash 
ore  shows  in  the  road  between  here  and  Gray' s  house.  Lime- 
stone again  crops  in  the  lane  opposite  P.  A.  Sellers'  house, 
apparently  dipping  N.  30°  W.  50°,  though  further  east  a 
hard,  blue  limestone  shows  in  the  Lambourn  bank  dipping 
42°  into  the  hill  south-east. 

Along  the  valley  road  dips  of  70°  to  north-west  and  south- 
east, the  latter  overturned,  show  just  east  of  the  Half 
Moon  line,  and  at  Gray's,  just  south  of  Matternville,  good 
blue  Trenton  layers  are  standing  vertical. 

Further  outcrops  in  No.  II  show  further  down  Buffalo 
run  at  Mrs.  Green's  dipping  75°  N.  W.  and  along  the  rail- 
road on  the  Brockerhoff  farm  with  the  same  dip,  between 
which  outcrops  some  considerable  ore  wash  occurs. 

South  of  Fillmore,  limestone  with  pipe  ore  shows  on  the 
township  road  dipping  20°  N.  W.,  succeeded  by  dips  of 
15°  and  finally  10°  N.  W.  in  the  Crust  bank,  south  of 
which  the  Nittany  anticlinal  passes. 

The  Trenton  beds,  with  characteristic  reddish  brown  soil, 
occur  mostly  north  of  the  Buffalo  run  and  form  the  best 
farming  land  in  the  township. 

The  gray  and  black  slates  of  III  occupy  their  usual  place, 
outcropping  along  the  south  Hank  of  the  Bald  Eagle  moun- 
tain and  riding  well  up  the  slope.  They  are  also  exten- 
sively cultivated,  though  considerably  covered  with  drift 
of  IV.  On  the  road  from  Matternville  to  Martha  furnace, 
in  the  Bald  Eagle  valley,  these  slates  show  back  of  the  B. 
S.  S.  dipping  85°  N.  W.  and  extending  to  the  foundry. 

To  the  north,  the  terrace  mountain  of  Oneida  sandstone  is 


14.     BETTER  TOWNSHIP.  T4.   307 

gapped  by  a  small  branch  of  Buffalo  run,  behind  which  an 
extensively  cultivated  cove  of  red  Medina  sandstone  occurs, 
showing  dips  in  red  sandstone  at  the  forks  of  the  road  of  N. 
W.  70°,  and  reaching  nearly  to  the  hill  summit,  about  1500' 
A.  T.,  in  white  Medina,  making  the  north  township  bound- 
ary line. 

These  same  rocks  are  again  exposed  along  the  Patton- 
Benner  township  road,  where  another  branch  stream  cuts  into 
the  middle  member  of  IV,  exposing  III  along  the  road,  with 
dips  of  70°  N.  W.,  and  in  the  red  Medina  60°. 

The  Oneida  mountain  shows  no  outcrop,  but  a  profusion 
of  hard,  angular,  gray  sandstone  bowlders  covering  the 
south  flank  of  the  mountain  and  the  valley  below. 

The  middle  member  of  IV  forms  a  marked  cove  between 
the  two  mountain  ribs,  and  is  highly  cultivated  through 
here  by  numerous  farmers,  and  its  soil  is  well  spoken  of. 

14-  Benner  township. 

This  township  joins  Patton  on  the  west,  with  Spring  east 
and  College  south. 

Its  contour  is  beautifully  varied  by  the  waters  of  Buffalo 
run  and  Spring  creek,  especially  the  latter,  which  courses 
through  the  township  from  south  to  north,  and  presents  in 
its  sinuous  course  an  excellent  section  of  the  lower  Silurian 
limestone  rocks. 

From  Roopsburg  south  a  wagon  road  leads  along  this 
romantic  stream,  which  is  a  favorite  ride  for  the  pleasure- 
seekers  of  Bellefonte. 

At  the  grist-mill  cross-roads  No.  II  blue  and  white  mag- 
nesian  limestone  dipping  70°  N.  W.  marks  the  north  leg  of 
the  Nittany  valley  axis.  This  dip  subsides  rapidly  going 
south,  inclining  65°,  60°,  40°,  and  35°  along  the  road  to  the 
south  end  of  the  dam. 

At  the  first  sharp  bend  in  the  road,  No.  II  cherty  and 
sandy  magnesian  limestone  dips  only  20°  N.  W.,  and  the 
last  north  dip  of  12°  is  exposed  in  the  same  at  W.  Smith's 
private  lane. 

About  ,^00  yards  south,  close  to  the  intersection  of  the  road 
south  to  Lemont  pike,  marks  the  position  of  the  Nittany 


308  T.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

valley  axis  approximately,  showing  the  same  sandy,  crys- 
talline limestone  as  exposed  in  the  arch  on  the  Centre  Hall 
pike. 

Just  south  of  G.  Pratt' s  the  dip  is  10°  S.  E. 

Two  hundred  yards  further  south  at  the  next  bend  to  the 
west,  a  splendid  bluff  of  blue  and  white  "ribbon-stone" 
shows  a  dip  of  12°  south-east  at  the  Eagle's  Nest. 

Dips  of  10°  and  15°  still  south-east,  succeed  in  the  same 
bluff  west  around  the  bend  of  the  road  opposite  the  axe 
factory.  On  the  north  side  of  the  factory  dam,  the  hill  is 
deeply  grooved,  rising  in  a  perpendicular  bluff  80'  above 
the  stream  and  presenting  a  very  wild  and  picturesque 
scene. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  road  two  dips  of  15°  and  12°  mark 
the  beginning  of  the  upper  division  of  the  magnesian  lime- 
stones, displaying  a  soft  French  gray  stone,  devoid  of  the 
sandy,  gritty  characteristics  of  the  lower  beds.  No  good 
exposures  occur  for  £  mile  until  the  cross  roads  at  Ballatt's 
140'  above  Bellefonte  is  reached  where  the  dip  is  S.  40°,  E. 
15°  in  thin  bedded  limestone. 

Between  here  and  the  bridge  crossing  the  creek,  an  almost 
continuous  exposure  of  limestone  shows  along  the  south 
side  of  the  road  in  a  bluff  40'  high  and  200  yards  long.  The 
hill  rises  probably  100'  feet  back  to  the  Lemont  pike,  studded 
with  interrupted  limestone  beds  high  up,  considerably 
crushed  and  broken. 

To  the  north  of  the  creek  the  ground  rises  gradually  to  the 
axis  which  forms  through  here  a  broad  plateau  between 
Spring  creek  and  Buffalo  run. 

Some  iron  ore  was  reported  at  Lutz's  place  near  here. 
An  old  furnace  stood  many  years  ago  at  Rock,  from  the 
bridge  crossing  at  which  around  the  point  to  Reynold's  mill, 
the  soil  is  very  red  and  probably  marks  the  base  of  the 
Trenton  limestone.  No  fossils  were  noticed  in  the  rocks 
through  here,  but  good  blue  carbonaceous  limestone  shows 
at  the  mill  dipping  S.  35°,  E.  12°.  At  the  next  creek  cross- 
ing at  Wnddell's,  the  dip  is  18°  in  a  40'  bluff  of  blue  lime- 
stone on  the  south  side  of  the  road. 

The  valley  becomes  more  open  west  and  the  hills  less  pre- 


14.    BENNER  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  309 

cipitons.  But  few  good  exposures  are  seen  until  at  the 
bend  east  of  the  school-house,  there  showing  dips  of  15° 
and  18°  south-east. 

Some  little  show  of  pipe  ore  occurs  on  Gordon's  place  to 
the  south,  but  bearing  off  up  the  hill  to  the  north-west,  some 
more  fine  exposures  occur  near  the  line  of  College  township 
close  to  the  lime  kiln,  all  dipping  to  the  south  east  at  angles 
of  15°-10°. 

Following  the  Patton  township  line  road  north,  some 
little  pipe  ore  crops  in  J.  T.  Hale's  heirs  farms. 

The  country  south  of  Spring  creek  rises  to  the  Nittany 
mountain  and  exposures  of  No.  II  are  more  rare. 

The  Lemont  pike  rises  from  Logan's  branch  in  Spring 
township  on  to  quite  a  high  ridge,  the  summit  on  the  road 
being  about  350'  above  Belief  on  te. 

Cherty  and  thin  bedded  limestone  dipping  70°  S.  E.  shows 
in  the  pike,  and  after  passing  the  second  toll  gate  at  A. 
Schwartz's,  a  dip  of  10°  accompanied  east  by  some  fair  sur- 
face show  of  ore  was  seen. 

The  erection  of  College  township  cut  off  the  south  portion 
of  Benner,  but  a  narrow  strip  extends  south-east  to  the 
crest  of  Nittany  mountain. 

The  road  at  the  base  of  the  mountain  shows  Trenton  lime- 
stone dipping  36°-20°  into  the  synclinal,  showing  near  the 
lime  kiln  an  exposure  150'  long,  good  burning  limestone 
bands  mixed  with  siliceous  and  argillaceous  layers,  greatly 
broken  and  succeeded  south  by  the  slates  of  III. 

The  dips  grow  very  gentle  towards  the  mountain,  so  that 
the  division  of  the  formations  Nos.  II  and  III  is  not  well 
marked,  except  by  the  sinking  of  the  mountain  stream 
issuing  from  McBride's  gap  as  soon  as  it  strikes  the  lime- 
stone. 

The  mountain  is  double  at  this  gap,  but  contains  no  cen- 
tral keel  of  white  Medina,  the  double  crest  being  formed  by 
north  and  south-dipping  Oneida  sandstone,  with  a  red  shale 
and  sandstone  valley  of  the  lower  Medina  between  the  two 
arms. 

Just  at  the  stream  crossing  the  road  in  this  gap  this  latter 


310  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

rock  dips  N.  W.  18°,  and  marks  about  the  center  of  the  syn- 
clinal. 

The  Buffalo  Run  road  shows  but  few  good  exposures  in 
this  township,  and  all  of  these  in  the  upper  magnesian  lime- 
stones, dipping  north-west  70°  at  the  school-house  and  46° 
at  Hunter's  hematite  mine  and  in  the  bluffs  between  it  and 
the  road. 

One  apparently  overturned  dip  of  80°  S.  E.  shows  in  the 
road  cut  just  west  of  the  Roopsburg  grist-mill. 

North  of  the  creek  the  Trenton  beds  occur,  to  be  followed 
by  the  slates  of  III  and  the  sand  rocks  of  the  Bald  Eagle 
mountain. 

East  from  the  Patton  line  through  the  mountain  the  road 
swings  northwards  around  the  Oneida  terrace,  with  red 
Medina  in  the  cove  between  it  and  the  main  crest  of  white 
Medina. 

On  the  summit  above  J.  Moran's,  1450'  A.  T.  (bar.),  every- 
thing is  lower  Medina,  really  making  the  ridge,  while  the 
upper  member  of  IV  has  flattened  considerably. 

The  Union  township  line  is  on  the  upper  Medina  for  400 
rods,  after  which  the  mountain  makes  quite  a  jog  to  the 
south  and  admits  of  a  small  area  of  Clinton  No.  V  shale 
along  the  north  portion  of  Benner. 

Some  tests  for  ore  were  made  on  Mike  Meyers'  farm  just 
north  of  the  road,  a  shaft  12'  deep  in  the  lower  measures 
having  turned  out  some  gray  ferruginous  sand  rock  carrying 
a  very  lean  and  impure  hematite. 

To  the  north  60'  another  shaft  was  put  down  and  some 
little  dark  red  ore  removed  ;  but  neither  of  these  operations 
furnish  any  additional  light  on  the  character  of  the  fossil 
ore  beds  of  V  in  this  part  of  the  region. 

From  here  the  road  practically  marks  the  divide  between 
upper  IV  and  V  to  Pardoe's,  where  a  summit  about  1700' 
A.  T.  is  reached  and  admits  of  fine  views  of  the  Bald  Eagle 
valley. 

South  of  Pardoe's  a  dip  of  60°  N.  W.  shows  in  white  Me- 
dina, and  east  of  this  a  flat  summit  marks  the  junction  of 
the  Oneida  and  upper  Medina  crests,  cutting  off  the  coves  of 
the  middle  red  member,  which  deepen  east  and  west  as 


15.     SPRING  TOWNSHIP.  T4.   311 

the  mountain  again  separates.     This  feature  is  shown  on 
the  colored  county  map. 

The  road  descends  along  the  Oneida  mountain  as  far  as 
creek  crossing,  (branch  to  Buffalo  run),  after  which  the  red 
Medina  crops  with  dips  of  70°,  65°,  and  68°  IS".  W.  to  the 
Spring  township  line. 

15.  Spring  township. 

This,  the  keystone  township  of  the  county,  merits  special 
mention  not  only  from  the  fact  of  its  containing  the  beau- 
tiful county  seat  of  Bellefonte,  with  its  varied  industries, 
but  by  reason  of  its  great  mineral  wealth  and  the  great 
beauty  and  charm  of  its  varied  scenery. 

Bounded  north  and  south  by  prominent  and  lofty  mount- 
ain ranges,  whose  rugged  walls  are  gapped  in  three  places, 
two  thirds  of  its  area  is  made  up  of  the  lower  Silurian  lime- 
stones, forming  an  abundance  of  most  excellent  farming 
land  and  containing  several  of  the  oldest  and  most  produc- 
tive pipe  and  hematite  ore  banks  in  the  county. 

The  Gatesburg,  Taylor,  and  Nigh  banks  of  the  Messrs. 
Valentines  &  Co.,  have  turned  out  a  large  quantity  of  50 
per  cent  pipe  ores  ;  so  likewise  with  the  old  Logan  bank 
of  Curtin  &  Co.,  and  their  present  Fishing  creek  and  Red 
bank  operations,  all  of  which  have  received  such  descrip- 
tion at  my  hands  as  was  possible  with  the  limited  time  at 
my  disposal  during  the  field  season  of  1883. 

The  beauty  of  the  Bellefonte  gap  in  the  Bald  Eagle 
mountain,  and  the  Pleasant  gap  in  Nittany,  are  too  well 
known  to  need  special  description  here.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  in  the  repeated  trips  I  made  through  them  on  my  various 
excursions  in  the  county,  they  never  lost  any  of  their 
grandeur  or  interest  on  close  and  intimate  acquaintance,  and 
the  well-kept  pike  from  Milesburg  to  Centre  Hall  makes  a 
study  of  the  lower  Palaeozoic  rocks  one  of  ease  and  pleasure 

The  Nittany  valley  anticlinal  axis  is  well  marked  on  the 
pike  just  south  of  the  toll-gate  and  1  mile  from  the  town, 
throwing  off  dips  of  9°  to  N.  W.  and  S.  E.,  though  imme- 
diately increasing  these  dips  northwards  to  N.  30°-40°,  W. 
4()°-50°  through  the  town  of  Bellefonte  in  a  series  of  excel- 


312  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS 

lent  exposures  continued  north  to  the  junction  of  No.  Ill 
Hudson  river  slates. 

It  was  through  the  gap  of  Logan's  branch  and  along 
Spring  creek  that  Prof.  H.  D.  Rogers  made  his  typical  sec- 
tion of  the  limestone  series. 

Logan  s  branch  section. 

*o  f  k.  Thin-bedded  encrinal  and  coralline  limestone,      30' 

o,  I    j.  Massive,  fine   blue  limestone,    weathering   in 

§       f  holes  from  an  obscure  coral,  20 

So  g  j  L  Lighter  blue,  fine  limestone,  resembling  the 
£  .  -{  «-Birds'-eye,"  limestone  of  New  York,  Cyth- 
.>  ^  j  eria,  and  other  fossils,  .  .  .  150' 

£        h.  Blue  massive,  and  also  thin  limestone  layers, 
some  speckled  with  spar,  and  full  of  holes  left 
g  I        by  the  removal  of  a  coral.     Many  fossils,          .      400' 

f  g.  Alternations  of  blue  clay— limestone  with  gray 

coralline  magnesian  1.  s.,  ...      200' 

f.    Light-blue,  massive  magnesian  limestone,  (wo 

fossils),     .      500 

e.  Alternations  of  light-blue,  fine,  with  dark-gray 

crystalline  coralline  limestones,            .       ...    1000 
d.  Light-blue  limestones,  (fossils  very  rare),       .      300' 
|j     ^    ]    c.  Gray  crystalline  magnesian  limestones,  (no  fos- 
sils), 1500 
b.  Light-blue  magnesian  limestone,  (no  fossils),    700' 
,2            I    a.  Gray  crystalline  magnesian  limestone,  (no  fos- 
sils),     600" 

6  — 

Total, .  [more  than  5400' 

"The  transition  from  the  almost  non-fossiliferous  por- 
tion of  the  magnesian  limestone  to  the  overlying  fossilifer- 
ous  rock  is  well  seen  in  the  bank  of  the  old  Bald  Eagle 
canal,  about  half  a  mile  above  the  town  of  Belief onte." 

Above  the  uppermost  layer  of  this  section  (K)  comes  300- 
400  feet  of  the  fossil-bearing  Trenton  beds  to  the  Utica  and 
Hudson  river  slates,  dipping  50°  north. 

Thin  bedded  blue  limestone  intercalated  with  slates 
shows  just  south  of  the  private  lane  crossing  the  canal  and 
Spring  creek  to  the  nail  works.  About  200  yards  east  oi 
this,  within  the  limits  of  Bellefonte,  is  the  extensive  lime 
quarry  of  A.  G.  Morris,  Tyrone.  It  is  worked  on  the  same 
outcrop  as  Alexander  &  Co.'s  ';Sunnyside  Quarries"  on 
the  west  side  of  the  creek. 


15.    SPRING  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  313 

The  quarry  is  about  150'  long  N.  E.  and  S.  W.,  100' wide 
and  60'  deep.  It  is  opened  along  the  crop,  the  beds  dipping 
apparently  N.  35°  W.  66°. 

This  is  evidently  the  "Shortlidge  quarry"  referred    to 
in  Mr.  McCreath's  Report  JVT,  of  which  he  gives  the  follow 
ing  analyses,  made  by  J.  Hartshorne  in  the  laboratory  of 
the  Survey : 

Shortlidge  Quarry. 

Upper  (1012  a.)  Middle  (1012  b.)  Lower  (1012  c.) 
Carbonate  of  lime,             97.890                         98.322  97.532 

Carbonate  of  magnesia,     1.285  1.170  1.210 

Carbonate  of  iron,  .   .   {       g 
Alumina,  .   .   .   .   i 

Insoluble  residue,  .   .   .       .540  .390  .815 

(1013d)  Upper  Bed.  Hard  and  compact,  seamed  with 
calcite  ;  pearl  gray,  with  conchoidal  fracture. 

(1012b]  Middle  Bed.  Very  hard  and  compact,  fine 
grained,  seamed  with  calcite  ;  pearl  gray  with  conchoidal 
fracture. 

(1012c]  Lower  Bed.  Hard  and  compact ;  mottled  with 
calcite  ;  pearl  gray,  with  conchoidal  fracture. 

The  quarry  is  worked  the  year  round,  averaging  3000 
bushels  per  week  in  summer,  though  not  so  much  in  the 
winter  months.  Four  wood  kilns,  with  a  daily  capacity  of 
180  bushels,  comprise  the  plant. 

South  to  High  street  in  the  town  a  series  of  excellent  ex- 
posures averaging  50°-70°  in  dip  and  rising  in  bluffs  100' 
high,  occur 

The  Sunny  side  quarries  of  J.  R.  and  C.  T.  Alexander  are 
opened  on  the  west  side  of  the  creek  about  \  mile  north  of 
Bellefonte  depot.  The  quarry  shows  a  face  80'  high  and 
exposures  70'  thick,  about  50  feet  of  the  latter  being  fit  for 
burning. 

As  many  as  8  distinct  beds  make  up  the  mass  in  the 
quarry.  The  top  covering,  not  quarried,  is  a  shelly  white 
limestone  not  fit  for  burning  and  the  bottom  a  white  mag 
nesian  limestone  said  to  contain  about  2  per  cent  iron. 

The  rocks  dip  regularly  and  steeply  60°  north-west.  The 
quarry  has  been  worked  for  18  years  and  produces  yearly, 


314  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  P'lNVILLIERS. 

according  to  Mr.  C.  T.  Alexander,  100,000  bushels  of  burned 
lime  in  addition  to  the  shipment  of  about  10,000  tons  of  raw 
stone. 

There  are  three  kilns  here,  two  of  them  having  a  com- 
bined capacity  of  300  bushels,  and  the  new  one,  slightly 
larger,  200  bushels  per  day  of  24  hours. 

They  are  lined  inside  with  fire  brick,  then  red  brick  and 
stone  outside,  strong  and  durable. 

In  none  of  them  does  the  lire  come  in  contact  with  the 
stone. 

The  following  is  an  analysis  made  by  H.  Pemberton,  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Salt  Manufacturing  Co.  : 

Iron,  alumina,  silica  and  sand, 65 

Carbonate  of  magnesia, 2.00 

Carbonate  of  lime, 97.35 

Loga,n's  branch  south  of  Belief onte  flows  througl;  a  nar- 
row gorge,  created  by  the  erosion  of  the  stream,  the  hills 
rising  on  either  side  of  it  100'+  to  the  plateau  of  the  real 
Nittany  valley. 

South  of  the  anticlinal  as  seen  on  the  pike  through  this 
gorge,  the  same  sequence  of  rocks  already  described  in  the 
section  appear  with  south-east  dips  to  the  Nittany  mountain 
synclinal. 

South  of  the  lime  kiln,  broken  and  somewhat  shaly  layers 
of  magnesian  limestone  dip  S.  32°,  E.  20°. 

Exposures  of  these  lower  rocks  continue  at  intervals 
along  the  road  to  the  store  with  about  the  same  dip,  in  gen- 
erally light  blue  broken  stone  with  occasional  massive  beds. 
At  Hume's  grist  mill,  limestone  is  exposed  200'  from  inter- 
section on  the  west  bank  of  the  creek  in  the  hill,  dipping 
S.  40°.  E.  15°. 

Close  to  the  Benner  township  line  a  small  quarry  in  cement 
stone  has  been  opened  on  Robert  Valentine's  farm.  The 
rock  is  a  dolomite  and  dips  about  S.  38°,  E.  15°.  It  is  pre- 
pared for  market  at  Hicks'  kiln  near  the  site  of  the  old  Val- 
entine furnace. 

The  plant  consists  of  2  double  kilns,  each  holding  about 
200  bushels  and  with  a  yearly  capacity  of  1600  bushels. 

The  eastern  part  of  the  township  is  a  high  table-land,  and 


15.    SPRING  TOWNSHIP.  T*.  315 

the  trend  of  the  anticlinal  axis  has  already  been  described 
in  chapter  IV,  on  Structural  Geology.  But  i'ew  exposures 
occur  here,  though  sufficient  to  show  the  steep  inclination 
of  the  north  leg  of  the  anticlinal  as  compared  with  the  south 
limb,  which  in  the  adjoining  township  east  amounts  to  per- 
pendicularity and  even  overturned  structure. 

Thus  near  the  intersection  of  the  north  or  Jacksonville 
road  and  the  Curtin  gap  road,  No.  II  dips  88°  north-west, 
while  south  of  the  limestone  ridge  marked  on  the  map  the 
outcrops  never  show  dips  of  over  30°  S.  E.,  and  generally 
only  20°. 

So  likewise  south  of  the  Nittany  mountain  road  from 
Pleasant  gap  to  Zion,  the  upper  beds  of  Trenton  age  make 
a  low  ridge  with  gentle  dips  south-east,  with  slightly  lower 
magnesian  limestones  of  a  French  gray  tint  cropping  con- 
tinually along  the  road  with  dips  of  20°,  14°,  15°,  and  12°, 
to  the  Walker  line. 

This  whole  section  of  country  is  a  beautiful  and  highly 
cultivated  farming  region. 

Some  few  sink-holes  show  in  No.  II  limestone,  especially 
on  J.  Kaufman's  farm  along  the  back  road  where  the  Tren- 
ton ridge  has  died  away. 

But  the  most  remarkable  of  these  is  at  the  large  pool 
known  as  Blue  Spring,  north  of  Pleasant  gap. 

Nittany  mountain  to  the  south  shows  but  few  irregular- 
ities of  crest  line,  the  north  ridge  of  Oneida  sandstone  being 
generally  of  almost  uniform  height  and  nowhere  breached 
between  Pleasant  gap  and  Hecla. 

Pleasant  gap  is  a  remarkably  beautiful  one.  The  moun- 
tain stream  which  forms  it  sinks  in  the  limestone  at  the 
north  base  of  the  mountain. 

The  slates  of  III  ride  well  up  the  north  flank,  and  limit 
the  cultivation  of  the  slope,  meeting  No.  IV  Oneida  in  the 
gap  road  at  the  stream  crossing. 

No  exposures  of  the  lower  member  of  IV  occur  in  the  gap 
in  this  township,  but  everywhere  a  profusion  of  immense 
gray  sandstone  bowlders,  creating  a  wild  and  rugged  con- 
tour, and  adding  considerably  to  the  picturesque  features 
of  the  breach. 


316  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

To  the  south,  the  overlying  red  Medina  sandstone  crops  in 
several  fine  exposures  of  red  sandstone  and  shale  and  flag- 
stones, with  dips  of  20°,  25°,  and  30°  S.  30°  E.,  making  the 
north  limb  of  the  mountain  synclinal  or  basin. 

The  township  line  to  Potter  is  practically  the  axis,  for  the 
same  red  rocks  appear  just  south  of  this  line,  with  several 
dips,  (70°  N.  W.,)  which  illustrate  the  form  of  the  synclinal. 

About  1£  miles  east  of  the  road,  the  upper  or  white  Me- 
dina member  of  IV  first  shows,  forming  a  central  synclinal 
ridge,  which  in  turn  splits  further  east  to  admit  of  the  red 
shale  and  sandstone  valley  of  Clinton  No.  V. 

The  monoclinal  north-dipping  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  form- 
ing, the  north  boundary  of  the  township,  presents  a  very 
broken  contour,  the  main  features  of  which  are  brought  out 
in  the  sketch  map  of  the  Bellefonte  gap,  page  280. 

A  good  exposure  of  white  Medina  80'  thick  shows  close 
to  the  Boggs'  line  in  the  gap,  dipping  N.  30°  W.  85°  along 
the  railroad,  and  an  excellent  exposure  of  the  middle  red 
member  along  the  pike,  dipping  N.  26°  W.  74°. 

16.  Marion  and  17.  Walker  townships. 

These  two  townships  can  be  better  described  as  one,  for 
they  practically  include  the  Nittany  valley  eastward  between 
the  Bald  Eagle  and  Nittany  mountains. 

They  are  divided  from  each  other  by  a  central  low  hill  of 
the  "  Barrens,"  known  as  Sand  ridge,  which,  passing  into 
Clinton  county,  dies  south-west  of  Mill  Hall,  with  the  anti- 
clinal which  elevated  it,  under  a  plain  of  higher  limestone 
measures. 

This  ridge  in  all  respects  resembles  the  Barren  ridge  of 
the  western  part  of  the  county,  and  in  discussing  the  struc- 
tural geology  of  the  region  in  chapter  IV  I  have  supposed  it 
to  represent  a  part  of  the  same  main  axis  of  Nittany  valley 
contained  in  the  Buck  or  Chestnut  ridge. 

This  central  divide  is  everywhere  "a  deeply-grooved, 
high  ground  plateau  rather  than  a  definite  ridge. 

Hard  ribs  of  impure  limestone  make  its  contour  uneven. ' '  * 

It  is  evidently  highest  near  its  western  extremity,  where 

*Final  Report,  Vol.  1,  p.  495. 


16.    MARION  AND  17.    WALKER  TOWNSHIPS.      T4.  317 

a  barometrical  elevation  of  about  1300'  A.  T.  was  obtained, 
the  ridge  declining  gradually  eastward. 

Right  on  the  summit  here  outcrops  of  the  hard,  blue,  im- 
pure limestone  above  referred  to  dipped  south-east 20°-25°, 
almost  virtually  a  sand-rock. 

Some  exploration  for  the  heavy  hematites  of  the  western 
"Barrens  "  have  been  made  here  on  tracts  of  Messrs.  Val- 
entine, but  no  very  great  success  was  attained. 

This  part  of  the  valley  is  very  dry  and  sandy. 

On  the  summit  at  the  road  crossing  from  the  Hecla  bank 
to  the  Jacksonville  road,  about  1000'  A.  T.  (bar.),  further 
outcrops  of  this  siliceous  blue  limestone  dip  S.  15°  E.  20°- 
26°,  accompanied  with  sandy  soil  and  bowlders  and  some 
little  hard  ore  to  the  south. 

A  marked  cove  extends  from  the  summit  through  Marion 
township  to  the  Jacksonville  road,  which  well  shows  the 
different  topographical  character  of  the  two  valleys  on  either 
side  of  this  dividing  ridge. 

South,  in  Walker  township,  everything  was  smooth  or 
gently  undulating,  owing  to  the  slight  dips  of  the  measures. 

In  Marion  township,  however,  the  rocks  are  all  turned 
upon  edge,  and  even  overturned  all  through  the  Jackson- 
ville valley  to  within  3  miles  of  Bellefonte,  where,  opposite 
Curtin's  gap  in  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  the  limestones,  though 
steeply  inclined,  dip  north  at  angles  of  70°-80°. 

Several  dips  to  the  south-east  of  80°-87°  overturned,  were 
obtained  at  the  cross-roads,  and  west  along  the  Jacksonville 
road,  a  splendid  exposure  of  soft  blue  limestone  near  J.  Hoy' s, 
dips  S.  22°  E.  70°.  This  deeply-marked  groove  extends 
west  as  far  as  Weaver's,  where  steep  northerly  dips  occur. 

In  this  distance,  frequent  short  coves  shoot  south  into  the 
Sand  ridge,  producing  detached  hills  of  limestone  along  its 
north  base  and  throwing  the  ridge  itself  into  a  series  of 
knobs  and  spurs. 

The  records  of  the  wells  at  the  Scotia  mines  in  the  west, 
400'  deep  through  these  sand  measures  and  underlying  lime- 
stones, and  the  same  at  Beck's  bank  here,  600'-)-,  first  through 
sandy  measures  and  then  limestone  along  the  north  flank 
of  the  hill,  in  addition  to  the  fine  exposures  of  massive 


318  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

blue  and  gray  limestone  in  the  Darrali  &  Zimmerman  banks 
dipping  south-east  into  hill,  all  tend  to  prove  the  propriety 
of  calling  this  sandy  rock  a  member  of  II  low  down  in  the 
series,  but  not  the  lowest. 

I  can  see  no  reason  for  introducing  a  fault  structure  through 
this  valley,  as  suggested  in  Prof.  Rogers'  Final  Report. 
The  Trenton  limestones  are  in  place  north  of  the  road  at 
Jacksonville,  where  the  "fault"  is  located,  succeeded  south 
by  the  dolomites  or  magnesian  limestones  to  the  Sand  ridge, 
and  by  placing  the  anticlinal  axis  in  the  rounded  knobs  of 
cherty  siliceous  limestones  S.  W.  of  Jacksonville,  with  over- 
turned structure,  there  is  ample  room  to  get  nearly  6000'  of 
No.  II  up  to  the  slates  of  III  at  the  base  of  the  Bald  Eagle 
mountain. 

One  mile  west  of  Jacksonville  and  close  to  Condo's  B  S  S. 
there  is  an  extensive  exposure  of  broken  "ribbon  stone," 
dark  blue  siliceous  limestone  dipping  85°  S.  E. 

On  the  Howard  pike,  north  of  Jacksonville,  the  Trenton 
beds,  apparently  devoid  of  distinct  fossils  here,  are  opened 
on  the  same  outcrop  on  each  side  of  the  road. 

The  east  quarry  is  Ertley's,  where  7000  bushels  a  year 
are  burned,  in  addition  to  supplying  Howard  furnace  with 
limestone.  The  exposure  is  60'  thick  in  beds  from  6  inches 
to  1£  feet  thick  in  light  blue  limestone,  dipping  S.  45°  E. 
80°. 

On  the  west  side  it  is  quarried  for  farm  use  by  Yearick 
and  Long. 

No.  II  extends  as  far  north  as  the  cove  in  the  hill,  where 
it  is  overlaid  by  the  slates  of  III  exposed  in  a  road  cut, 
crumpled  and  twisted  by  the  overthrow  of  the  anticlinal, 
here  beginning  to  right  itself.  At  the  cross  roads  250' 
north,  the  dip  is  N.  40°,  W.  82°,  in  a  fair  exposure  of  gray 
slate  50'  thick,  extending  to  within  100'  of  the  flour  mill. 

Here  the  lower  Oneida  member  of  IV  is  exposed,  dipping 
78°  N.  W.,  30'  thick,  of  coarse  gray  sandstone. 

This  extends  to  within  200  feet  of  the  Howard  township 
line,  in  the  beautiful  gap  of  that  name,  where  the  red  Me- 
dina sandstone  comes  in  and  continues  for  some  distance 
through  the  gap. 


16.    MARION  AND  17.    WALKER  TOWNSHIPS.      T4.  319 

The  junction  of  IT  and  III  is  well  marked  again  at  J. 
Holmes1  farm,  about  1  mile  west  of  the  Clinton  county  line, 
where,  in  a  gully  washed  down  by  spring  water,  about  ^  mile 
north  from  valley  road,  Trenton  limestones  dip  80°  S.,  38° 
E.,  overturned,  almost  imperceptibly  grading  into  slate 
with  same  dip.  The  slates  are  highly  polished  and  jet 
black,  not  unlike  those  quarried  at  Brown's  "coal  mine" 
at  the  north  base  of  Nittany  mountain. 

South  of  Sand  ridge,  from  Spring  township  line  to  Clin- 
ton county,  No.  II  limestone  shows  in  the  various  ore 
banks  already  described,  dipping  uniformly  south-east  at 
angles  of  from  40°-15°,  in  gradually  higher  measures 
ascending  the  slope  of  Nittany  mountain. 

These  limestones  are  nowhere  quarried  in  Walker  town- 
ship, and  need  no  special  description. 

The  mountain,  however,  is  twice  beautifully  gapped  by 
Little  Fishing  creek  at  Hecla  furnace  and  by  affluents  of 
the  same  stream  further  east  near  the  Clinton  county  line 
at  the  Madisonburg  or  Washington  furnace  gap.  Another 
gap,  sometimes  confounded  with  the  latter,  is  made  by  Big 
Fishing  creek  in  Clinton  county,  which,  after  draining  the 
anticlinal  Sugar  valley,  issues  through  the  magnificent 
gorge  south  of  the  old  Washington  furnace. 

The  Hecla  gap  is  still  a  very  wild  and  picturesque  one, 
though  not  now  the  thoroughfare  to  Brush  valley  that  it  for- 
merly was  before  the  abandonment  of  the  Hecla  furnace. 
The  site  of  the  old  furnace  was  on  the  slates  of  III. 

No.  IV  white  Medina  is  well  developed  here,  forming  a 
double  central  hill,  which,  widening  eastward,  takes  in  the 
red  slates  and  sandstone  of  No.  V  in  Pheasant  valley.  No. 
IV  Oneida  sandstone  forms  the  terrace  mountain  on  either 
side  in  Walker  and  Gregg  townships,  with  an  elevated  vale 
of  the  middle  red  Medina  sandstone  between. 

The  slates  of  III  are  not  well  exposed  in  place,  owing  to 
a  heavy  covering  of  sand  drift,  but  cover  an  extensive  area 
south  to  the  breast  of  the  old  dam,  where  they  crop,  dipping 
32°  S.  E. 

South  50  yards  No.  IV  Oneida  shows  well  in  an  outcrop 
extending  125  yards  along  the  road,  dipping  S.  37°  E.  40°- 


. 


320  T. 


Plate  XIII. 


View  of  Conical  hill 
in  Big  Fishing  Creek  Gap,  Cenlre  county. 

Looking  south-east,  from  Washirigtoji  Furnace. 


Sketch  map  of  Big  Fishing  Creek  Gap. 


Clinton 
Medina  while  ^ 


Medina  red.. 


Hudson  River 


red  shale.  V 
ffi  scLndsloTw.  JVc. 

sandstone.  1  YD. 
conglomerate,  fVa. 


Section  through  Fishing  Creek  Gap. 

SN    *X       \   \  Pheasant  7*iLl$y  /     .Siigar  ixdljey  v^-' 
N:W>%    \4      x\    \  /    /     /    /''"""v     \     s.E 


T4. 


16.    MARION  AND  17.    WALKER  TOWNSHIPS.      T.  321 

42°,  in  gray  compact  massive  sandstone,   weathering  to  a 
rusty  brown,  but  with  few  signs  of  conglomerate. 

No.  IV  red  Medina  forms  Rag  valley  to  the  south,  riding 
high  up  the  central  white  Medina  slope  and  really  forming 
a  terrace  on  it,  though  not  seen  from  the  valley  to  the 
north. 

The  white  Medina  synclinal  forms  the  township  line. 
Dividing  east  to  receive  No.  V,  the  north  rib  of  this  inner 
mountain  is  twice  notched  in  Markle's  gap  and  in  Lee's  gap 
by  tributaries  of  Bea.r  run. 

The  slight  south-east  dips  in  Walker  township  throw 
both  the  main  crest  and  its  north  terrace  well  our  towards 
the  Nittany  valley  road. 

The  Madisonburg  gap — called  Johnson's  gap  in  the  Final 
Report — forms  at  present  the  great  highway  of  travel  be- 
tween Brush  and  lower  Nittany  valleys.  It  is  only  ex- 
celled in  grandeur  and  importance  by  the  Big  Fishing  creek 
gap  in  Clinton  county. 

A  reference  to  the  structure  of  this  part  of  the  mountain 
in  chapter  IV  will  assist  an  understanding  of  the  outline 
sketch  on  page  320  from  Geol.  Pa.,  1858,  Vol.  I,  page  487. 

The  road  from  Nittany  P.  O.  to  Madisonburg)  formerly 
a  pike)  passes  through  the  gap  in  question. 

For  wildness  of  scenery  and  magnificent  rock  exposures, 
it  is  remarkable,  as  well  as  for  its  deep  breach  in  the  inner 
white  Medina  mountain,  whose  two  prongs  are  nearly  a 
mile  apart  here  and  admit  between  them  in  Pheasant  valley, 
or  "  Little  Sugar  valley,"  quite  an  area  of  No.  V. 

Three  mountain  streams  combine  to  make  up  a  consider- 
able volume  of  water.  Two  of  these.  Dry  run  and  Mosquito 
run,  drain  respectively  the  red  Medina  country  in  upper 
Sugar  valley  and  the  Clinton  shales  and  sandstone  of  Pheas- 
ant valley  east  of  the  old  pike. 

The  third  and  longest,  Bear  run,  rises  west  in  Markle's 
and  Lee's  gaps  and  drains  all  western  Sugar  valley.  No. 
II  limestone  occurs  up  the  gentle  slope  south  of  Nittany  P. 
O.  to  within  250  yards  of  forks  to  Washington  furnace,  suc- 
ceeded there  by  III  dipping  just  north  of  old  dam  S.  E.  40°. 

This  is  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Oneida  terrace  ridge, 
21  T4. 


322  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D*  INVILLIERS. 

where  IV  gray  is  splendidly  exposed  in  a  ledge  20'  thick 
and  rising  80'  high  jrst  north  of  the  new  toll  house  and  dip- 
ping about  the  same  (40°  S.  E.) 

The  road  and  creek  make  a  sharp  bend  westward  south 
of  this  point,  strikingly  similar  to  Millheim  gap  in  Brush 
mountain.  Orieida  sandstone  continues  to  a  point  about 
250  yards  south  of  next  bend,  dipping  30°  S.  E.  near  the 
junction  of  IV  red  Medina,  which  in  turn  dips  25°. 

After  passing  the  forks  of  Bear  run,  the  north  prong  of 
IV  white  Medina  shows  a  good  exposure  of  white  sandstone 
dipping  25°  S.  E.  on  the  east  side  of  the  road. 

Just  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  creek  there  is  a  curious, 
cone-shaped  knob  or  spur  contained  between  the  waters  of 
Bear  and  Dry  run,  which  Prof.  Rogers  supposes  "  to  be  the 
result  of  denudation  upon  a  small  local  flexure." 

It  has  all  the  appearance  of  the  eddy-formed  moraine 
spoken  of  by  him  as  occurring  in  Antis  gap  in  Nippenose 
valley,  and  as  seen  by  me  in  Big  Fishing  creek  gap  east  from 
here  back  of  the  Oneida  terrace,  presented  an  appearance 
somewhat  as  shown  in  Figure,  page  320. 

It  leaves  the  main  ridge  of  the  "Big  mountain''  (white 
Medina)  about  half  way  up  its  slope,  admitting  of  a  cove 
on  each  side  between  its  knob  and  the  mountain,  and  slop- 
ing gently  on  its  north  side  to  the  creek  forks. 

This  part  of  the  Big  mountain  ends  with  an  extensive  ex- 
posure of  white  sandstone,  dipping  S.  E.  28°-30°,  succeeded 
by  dips  of  35°  in  the  ferruginous  slate  and  sandstone  of  the 
Clinton  formation  No.  V  in  Pheasant  valley. 

The  crop  is  30'-40'  thick.  The  slate  is  of  a  dull  blue  gray 
color,  and  was  formerly  tried  for  ore  at  Washington  fur- 
nace. 

The  south  prong  of  Medina  sandstone  dips  steeply  70°  N. 
W.,  thrown  up  by  the  Sugar  valley  anticlinal,  which  in  this 
township  has  also  lifted  the  middle  and  lower  members  of 
IV  in  western  Sugar  valley,  all  dipping  steeply  N.  W. 

The  connection  and  manner  of  occurrence  of  these  various 
rock  measures  will  be  readily  made  out  by  referring  to  the 
colored  map  and  key -section. 


17.   FERGUSON  TOWNSHIP.  T.  323 

17.  Ferguson  township. 

This  township  practically  comprises  lower  Nittany  valley, 
or  that  portion  of  this  great  limestone  area  which,  with  Col- 
lege township  on  the  east,  is  not  affected  by  any  of  the  an- 
ticlinal flexures  of  Penn's  valley  proper. 

Two  subordinate  anticlinals  south  of  Buck  or  Chestnut 
ridge  have  been  already  referred  to  as  Gatesburg  #nd  Tad- 
pole or  Sand  ridge.  West  in  Huntingdon  county  these 
flexures  attain  more  prominence,  but  neither  of  them  are 
traceable  east  beyond  the  Ferguson-College  line. 

These  two  ridges  form  a  portion  of  the  "Barrens,"  and 
with  the  main  ridge  on  the  north  present  the  lowest  rocks 
in  the  county  on  their  arches. 

South  of  the  most  southern  or  Sand  ridge,  about  2500'  of 
No.  II  magnesian  and  Trenton  limestones  are  exposed  to  the 
base  of  III  along  the  north  flank  of  the  Tussey  mountain 
monoclinal. 

Still  lower  rocks  are  brought  up  in  Gatesburg  ridge,  and 
the  lowest  of  these  sandy  measures  finally  appear  in  the 
main  Nittany  valley  axis  in  Chestnut  ridge. 

This  will  be  made  plain  by  referring  to  the  cross  section 
of  this  part  of  the  valley,  page  38. 

On  the  road  between  the  Bryson  ore  bank  and  Pennsyl- 
vania furnace,  splendid  exposures  of  the  lower  magnesian 
limestones,  trending  parallel  from  the  dam  at  the  water 
pump  along  the  south  side  of  the  road,  show  in  an  almost 
continuous  outcrop. 

The  dip  varies  from  about  S.  30°-40°  E.  25°-40°. 

A  fine  face  (30')  of  blue  and  white  stone  is  seen  at  the  dam. 

The  road  from  here  through  Marengo  City  shows  a  dip  of 
30°  N.  W.  in  a  dark  blue,  sandy  limestone  at  the  county 
line,  marking  the  north  leg  of  the  anticlinal  of  Sand  ridge. 

At  J.  Eyre's  house,  bluffs  of  similar  gritty  limestone  20' 
thick  dip  S.  25°  E.  35°,  and  just  beyond  this  in  field  near  the 
old  lime  kiln,  there  is  a  small  show  of  pipe  ore  dug  from  old 
pits.  The  specimens  were  of  good  quality,  but  scarce.  The 
soil  is  sandy.  Limestone  crops  in  the  woods  50  yards  be- 
yond, dipping  south-east. 

In  the  gap  of  Half  Moon  run  through  the  Gatesburg  ridge, 


324  T4.      RKPORT  OF  PROGRESS.        K.  V.  I)'  INVILLIKRS. 

the  anticlinal  is  well  seen,  throwing  off  dips  of  6°  south-east 
and  12°-15°  K  W.  in  sandy  layers. 

There  are  frequent  wash  ore  deposits  along  the  road  here, 
possibly  derived  from  the  WhorelFs  bank  horizon,  which  is 
visible  in  many  places  to  Gatesburg  village. 

An  unreliable  dip  of  65°  N.  70°  W.  was  Gained  on  this 
road,  which  is  probably  not  in  place. 

Regular  dips  of  20°,  15°  and  10°  show  on  the  tov  iship  line 
along  the  south  Hank  of  Buck  or  Chestnut  ridge. 

Further  east  along  this  ridge,  impure  limestone  crops  south 
of  J.  Booth's,  dipping  S.  35°  E.  22°,  succeeded  in  200  yards 
S.  E.  by  a  good  crop  of  wash  ore,  extending  east  in  good 
shape  on  the  Snyder,  Hoop,  and  Grenoble  farms,  and  west 
along  the  road  as  far  as  the  pond  near  Garner's  house. 

Gatesburg  and  Sand  ridge  have  both  died  away  consider- 
ably, so  that  along  this  road  to  the  White  Hall  road,  only 
rolling  and  barren  sandy  flats  are  visible. 

Near  D.  Fye's  place  and  John  Weaver's,  good  soft  blue 
and  white  limestone  dips  S.  45°  E.  18° 

Crossing  the  White  Hall  road  a  small  crop  of  pipe  ore 
occurs  at  J.  Weaver's. 

South,  over  hill  to  Pine  Grove  mills,  in  the  valley  of  Slab 
Cabin  run,  frequent  exposures  of  cherty  blue  limestone 
show,  dipping  south  30°-25°  into  Tussey. 

Pine  Grove  village  stands  on  II,  a  good  exposure  of  which 
is  seen  in  the  stream  N.  W  of  the  grist-mill,  dipping  38°  S. 
30°  E.  At  the  school-house,  the  run  disappears  in  a  sink 
hole. 

All  the  exposures  along  this  back  road  are  near  the  top 
of  II. 

N.  E.  towards  Harris  township,  No.  II  crops  at  several 
places,  notably  at  D.  Ross  and  T.  Yarnell,  dipping  about 
S.  35°  E.  35°  -40°. 

AtT.  Patton's  there  is  another  sink  hole,and  two  beautiful 
springs  here  considerably  increase  the  flow  of  Slab  Cabin 
run. 

In  a  low  ridge  south  of  road,  there  is  a  lean  show  of  ore 
on  P.  Botorff's  farm— flinty  and  local. 


19.     HARRIS  AXD  20.    COLLKGK  TOWNSHIP.        T4.   325 

N.  E.  up  the  hill  from  YarneH's,  several  crops  of  limestone 
in  good  exposures  dip  S.  35°  E.  15°-35°. 

From  Pine  Grove  S.  W.  along  the  back  road,  several  ex- 
posures of  the  upper  members  of  II  dip  about  S.  40°  E.  40°, 
especially  well  exposed  in  the  neighborhood  of  Rock  Spring 
village. 

Here  a  line  example  of  the  underground  drainage  so  com- 
mon to  these  limestone  valleys  can  be  seen  in  the  spring 
on  J.  J.  Goheen's  farm,  which  has  given  the  name  to  the 
village. 

The  spring  issues  from  a  50'  bluff  of  good  pure  gray  and 
blue  massive  limestone,  dipping  S.  40°  E.  10°,  about  £  mile 
from  the  base  of  Tussey  mountain. 

It  issues  with  considerable  force  from  a  cave  in  the  rock 
mass,  after  having  sunk  a  mile  to  the  east  in  the  limestone 
north  of  Erb'  s  gap. 

It  is  virtually  the  source  of  Spruce  creek  and  flows  from 
here  12  miles  to  Spruce  creek  station,  P.  R.  R.  on  the  Little 
Juniata. 

The  main  white  Medina  crest  of  Tussey  to  the  south  is 
unbroken,  and  dips  south-east  into  Huntingdon  county. 

Its  summit  is  about  750'  above  Pine  Grove  hotel.  The 
terrace  mountain  of  Oneida  is  twice  breached,  however,  at 
Pine  Grove  and  Erb's  gaps. 

The  slates  of  III  ride  well  up  on  this  terrace,  dipping  on 
the  Pine  Grove  road  through  the  gap,  south-east  30°. 

The  iron  ore  banks  of  this  township  are  described  in 
chapter  XI. 

19.  Harris  and  20.  College  townships. 

These  townships  lie  next  of  Ferguson,  the  latter,  College 
township,  having  been  created  recently  out  of  Harris  and 
Benner. 

They  contain  portions  of  the  lower  Silurian  limestone 
rocks  of  II  and  the  slates  and  sandstones  III  and  IV  of  oS'it- 
tany  mountain  and  the  Seven  mountains. 

Both  townships  are  extensively  drained  northwards  by 
Spring  creek  and  its  tributaries.  Slab  Cabin  and  Cedar  runs. 

The  Nittany  mountain  synclinal  shows  on  the  pike  south  of 


326  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V .  D'  INVILLIKRS. 

Dale' s  mills,  with  dips  in  No.  Ill  Hudson  river  slate  of  12° 
N.  W.  and  S.  E. ;  along  Slab  Cabin  run  road  in  Trenton 
limestone  with  8°  dips  ;  and  south  of  the  State  College  with 
south-east  dips  of  18°,  12°,  and  15°,  and  north-west  ones  of 
20°  in  upper  magnesian  limestones  and  carrying  in  this  nar- 
row trough  the  Blair  and  Cooper  banks. 

To  the  north  in  College  township  several  outcrops  of 
lower  limestones  occur. 

Thus  at  the  bridge  over  Spring  creek  on  the  Lemont  and 
Centre  furnace  road,  massive  blue  limestone  dips  S.  35°, 
E.  15°,  and  again  100  yards  west,  somewhat  quartzose  and 
broken. 

To  the  north  300  yards,  a  prominent  but  low  ridge  of  II 
probably  marks  the  extension  eastward  of  the  Sand  ridge 
axis  of  Ferguson  township,  but  everywhere  here  southerly 
dips  prevail.  No.  II  of  good  quality  crops  in  an  old  quarry 
west  of  the  furnace  dipping  about  S.  60°,  E  12°,  and  consid- 
erably used  by  the  State  Agricultural  College. 

From  Lemont  north  to  Haldeman's,  Trenton  limestones, 
dip  10° -18°  south  east  in  small  exposures.  At  Botorff's 
the  dip  is  S.  18°,  E.  20°. 

A  short  distance  south  of  the  school-house  in  Wm.  Thomp 
son's  meadows,  Slab  Cabin  run  joins  Spring  creek,  further 
increased  by  two  beautiful  springs  from  Mayes'  place. 

At  Osman's  cross  roads,  dolomitic  limestone  dips  S.  22°, 
E.  28°,  andi  mile  further  towards  Big  Hollow  bank  20°  S.  E. 
In  a  bluff  on  the  south  side  of  Big  hollow  No.  II  is  well  ex- 
posed, dipping  S.  22°,  E.  14°. 

South,  in  the  hill  summit  north  of  Centre  furnace,  sandy 
magnesian  limestone  dips  S.  33°,  E.  14°.  and  again  in 
Thompson's  quarry  at  roadside,  in  a  face  20' thick  of  rather 
siliceous  blue  and  white  banded  limestone  dipping  S.  40°, 
E.  20°. 

The  great  drawback  to  most  of  the  quarries  here  and  in 
Penn's  valley  generally,  is  the  difficulty  in  finding  any 
thickness  of  good  burning  stone,  always  occurring  in  small 
beds  of  12  to  18  inches  between  beds  of  a  more  sandy  and 
siliceous  character. 

South  of  the  pike  in  D.  Kinport's  quarry,  excellent  Tren- 


19.    HAURIS  AND  20.    COLLEGE  TOWNSHIP.        T4.  327 

ton  limestone  shows  which  is  claimed  to  have  made  good 
cement. 

It  is  very  much  fractured  and  occurs  in  cubes  3"  on  each 
side,  of  dark  blue  color  and  dipping  in  a  15'  exposure  S.  30°, 
E.  30°. 

From  Dale's  mills  S.  W.  to  Stover's  bank,  limestone  dips 
everywhere  about  50°  to  N.  W.,  marking  the  north  limb  of 
the  Brush  Valley  axis. 

Near  the  Harris  line,  on  the  Boalsburg  pike,  gently  dip- 
ping S.  18°,  E.  12°  limestone  marks  its  south  limb. 

About  200  yards  N.  W.  limestone  at  Irwin's  dips  N.  W. 
48°,  and  46°  in  a  knoll  at  Foster's  place,  and  50°  at  B. 
Peters'  farm  in  an  excellent  30'  exposure  of  soft  blue 
stone. 

At  the  lime- kiln  quarry,  the  dip  is  still  about  50°  N.,  28° 
W.;  an  historical  locality,  once  "salted"  with  gold  and 
placed  in  the  Centre  county  market  as  an  offset  to  the  claims 
of  California. 

Two  hundred  feet  further  north  the  slates  of  III  stand  on 
an  edge,  and  dip  50°  N.  N.  W.,  but  gradually  subside  to  12° 
at  the  synclinal  axis,  and  indeed  beautifully  basined,  with 
dips  of  only  2°  each  way. 

These  slates  have  a  dark-brown  and  chocolate  color. 

The  same  axis  is  well  exposed  about  250  yards  north  of 
the  barn  on  the  road  from  Lemont  up  Slab  Cabin  run,  oc- 
cupying high  ground  and  curving  in  a  gentle  basin,  with 
dips  of  6°. 

Passing  E.  C.  Humes'  farm-house,  the  dip  increases  to 
30°,  and  100  yards  further,  beyond  brown  school-house,  to 
N.  20°,  W.  40,  in  blue  limestone  with  mixed  seams  of  cal- 
cite. 

There  is  some  little  show  of  ore  at  Musser's  house,  i  mile 
further  S.  E. 

In  Harris  township,  in  the  Pine  Grove -Boalsburg  road  east 
of  Dr.  A.  A.  Henderson's,  No.  II  outcrops  almost  continu- 
ously to  Ishler's  house,  trending  along  road  and  dipping  S. 
20°,  E.  25°-28°. 

West  of  Boalsburg,  the  dip  is  only  12°,  while  east  it  is 
20°. 


328  T.      REPORT  OF   PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'  INVILM  KKS. 

South  of  Linden  Hall  several  good  exposures  of  magnesian 
limestone  occur  on  the  south  side  of  the  Brush  Valley  axis. 

They  show  mostly  a  siliceous  blue  stone,  greatly  broken, 
and  dipping  about  S.  30°,  E.  25°-30°. 

Between  the  mill  and  the  village  the  dip  is  only  about 
12°. 

Passing  the  axis  at  Ross'  place,  and  ascending  to  Mc- 
Bride's  gap,  the  measures  dip  north-west,  followed  by- 
slates  of  III. 

No.  IV  Oneida  makes  the  crest  here,  dipping  N.  28°,  W. 
40°,  about  50  yards  from  summit.  The  stream  between  the 
two  mountain  ribs  has  cut  down  into  the  Medina  red  shale 
and  sandstone  185'  below  the  crest,  at  the  road  crossing  close 
to  the  Spring-Potter  line. 

Tussey  mountain,  in  Harris,  has  its  terrace  member 
gapped  at  Thomas  and  Hasson's  gaps  by  branches  of  Slab 
Cabin  run.  Between  them  the  terrace  is  greatly  subordinate 
to  the  main  Medina  crest ;  but  from  Hasson's  gap  eastward 
the  terrace  is  higher,  steadily  rising  with  an  irregular  crest 
line  until  it  ends  in  the  bold  Tussey  knob. 

In  the  gap  leading  into  the  Bear  Meadows,  both  this  sand- 
stone and  the  slates  of  III  show  dips  of  40°  S.  E. 

The  inner  mountain  ends  in  a  high  spur  west  of  this  gap 
road,  swings  south-east  around  the  meadows  near  the  Hun- 
tingdon county  line,  and  passes  east  along  the  south  side  of 
Sinking  creek,  in  a  compressed  synclinal  ridge  to  Thick 
Head  in  Potter.  Returning  around  the  dying  Confer  and 
Decker  Valley  axis,  it  forms  a  kettle  in  the  south-east  corner 
of  Harris. 

It  again  swings  east  along  the  south  side  of  this  hollow  to 
make  the  county  line,  and  the  prominent  Bald  mountain 
spur  in  Potter,  seen  from  the  Lewistown  pike. 

It  forms  another  loop  south  in  Huntingdon  county,  and 
returns  to  form  Paddy  mountain  and  the  county  line  to 
the  Union  corner. 

The  Bare  or  Bear  meadows  is  a  high,  flat  marsh  consist- 
ing of  several  hundred  acres  of  ground  2000'  A.  T.,  and 
supporting  a  great  variety  of  botanical  curiosities. 

The  marsh  is  made  by  the  Sinking  creek  which,  rising  in 


21.    POTTER  TOWNSHIP.  'f4    339 

a  spring  on  ttie  north  side  of  the  Oneida  ridge,  swings 
around  its  dying  anticlinal,  where  its  flow  is  somewhat  ar- 
rested in  the  kettle  of  the  encircling  Medina  mountain,  and 
thence  north-eastward  into  Potter  township.  The  creek 
gaps  the  Oneida  mountain  close  to  the  Potter  line  before 
issuing  in  the  slates  of  the  "  Loop." 

Two  small  patches  of  Clinton  No.  V  are  embraced  in  the 
wide  basin  of  white  Medina  south  of  Hasson's  gap  and  close 
to  the  Huntingdon  county  line. 

The  area  of  these  rocks  is  small  in  this  county,  but  widens 
considerably  south-west  in  Huntingdon. 

They  are  also  drained  in  that  direction,  as  will  be  appar- 
ent by  inspecting  the  colored  map. 

This  whole  southern  part  of  Harris  is  a  wild  and  unculti- 
vated region,  and  totally  uninhabited. 

21.   Potter  township. 

This  township  adjoins  College  and  Harris  on  the  east,  and 
together  with  this  whole  tier  of  southern  townships  it  pre- 
sents a  great  variety  of  scenery  and  fine  exposures  of  the 
Lower  Silurian  rocks. 

Its  structure  will  be  readily  made  out  from  the  general 
section  across  the  county,  as  the  section  line  from  Nittany 
mountain  on  the  north  to  the  Mifflin  county  line  passes 
through  Centre  Hall,  Centre  Hill,  and  Potter's  Mills. 

Its  northern  barrier,  Nittany  mountain,  is  a  synclinal 
double  mountain,  until  1  mile  east  of  the  pike  it  becomes 
triple  by  the  rise  of  the  inner  main  crest  of  white  Medina. 

The  northern  township  line  is  the  approximate  axis,  so 
that  the  rocks  of  this  mountain  in  Potter  show  always 
northerly  dips. 

In  the  Watson  bank  road,  excellent  exposures  of  the  mid- 
dle red  Medina  sandstone  and  shale  dip  N.  30°  W.  50°. 

Further  south  100  yards  outcrops  of  the  same  rocks  dip 
60°,  immediately  south  of  which  No.  IV  gray  Oneida  is 
well  exposed,  dipping  70°  N.  W. 

The  slates  of  III,  supporting  this  mountain  ridge,  show 
first  at  the  private  lane  at  the  base  of  the  hill,  exposed  in  a 
quarry,  but  so  crushed  as  to  conceal  the  dip. 


330  T4.      EEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIKRS. 

They  continue  south  to  Gregg's  house,  there  succeeded 
by  the  limestones  of  No.  II. 

The  pike  leading  over  the  mountain  to  Centre  Hall  shows 
exposures  of  these  same  rocks,  the  red  Medina  in  the  ele- 
vated shale  and  sandstone  valley  between  the  two  opposing 
ribs  dipping  70°  N.  W.,  succeeded  south  by  Oneida  sand- 
stone, dipping  50°  in  the  same  direction. 

Centre  Hall  to  the  south,  is  in  the  limestones  of  II,  the 
Brush  Valley  axis  passing  through  here  and  well  marked 
east  along  the  road,  with  dips  of  70°  and  65°  X.  W.,  and 
40°  and  48°  south-east,  close  to  the  Gregg  line. 

This  axis  attains  its  greatest  elevation  and  northern  de- 
flection about  Centre  Hall,  where  the  upper  magnesian  lime- 
stones are  exposed.  West  of  Centre  Hall  it  swings  south, 
passing  through  the  first  low  ridge  south  of  the  Watson 
bank,  and  throws  off  dips  of  30°  to  south-east. 

The  Watson  bank  occurs  in  north-dipping  limestones  and 
near  the  base  of  the  Trenton  division. 

The  L.  &  T  R.  R.  grade  shows  some  wash  ore  in  the  cut 
south  of  Lingle  Bros.,  and  the  Brush  mountain  synclinal 
practically  keeps  the  grade  line  here,  with.. dips  in  No.  II  of 
30°  S.  E.  and  50°  N.  W. 

Rising  on  the  flat  limestone  ridge  to  the  south,  marking 
the  Penn's  Valley  axis,  these  dips  subside  to  25°,  15°,  and 
10°,  the  arch  being  broad  and  flat  here,  and  dying  west  in 
the  offset  of  Tussey. 

The  country  is  high  and  rolling  in  this  township,  mark- 
ing the  water  shed  of  this  section,  and  largely  farmed. 

Along  the  Gregg  line,  the  Penn's  Valley  axis  shows  dips 
in  magnesian  limestone  of  20°-50°  south-east. 

East  of  Centre  Hill,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Sinking 
Creek  mine,  there  is  some  appearance  of  a  steep  compressed 
anticlinal  roll  along  the  road,  with  dips  of  50°-80°  N.  W. 
and  65°-7()°  south-east  at  the  mine  into  Egg  hill. 

The  junction  of  II  and  III  along  the  Gregg  line  at  the 
base  of  this  hill  is  at  the  Sinking  creek  crossing,  extending 
west  to  the  church  and  cemetery  at  Royer's,  and  thence  to 
the  Lewistown  pike,  about  500  yards  south  of  Centre  Hill, 
and  finally  to  Churchville  or  Ttisseyville  cross  roads,  and 


21.    POTTER  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  331 

along  the  cove  south  of  the  Boalsburg  road  to  the  Harris 
line. 

Dips  on  the  east  are  about  40°  S.  E.  into  Egg  hill,  6f)°-70° 
at  Penn's  Valley  mine,  and  50°  on  the  road  west  of  Centre 
Hill  in  an  almost  continuous  exposure  to  the  forks  at  the 
large  mill-dam.  There  are  probably  500'  of  the  upper  lime- 
stones exposed  south  along  this  road,  with  a  dip  of  S.  38°, 
E.  45°-50°.  from  Runkle's  to  the  flour  mill,  mainly  blue 
and  cherty.  This  outcrop  of  II  extends  east  along  the  ridge 
to  Centre  Hill,  excellently  exposed  and  quarried  in  the  pike 
south  of  that  village  for  farm  use. 

At  Churchville,  the  limestone  crops  from  the  school  house 
north  to  the  quarry,  dipping  at  the  latter  place  S.  39°,  E 
60°,  with  N.  W.  cleavage  planes  of  80°.  It  is  about  300' 
thick  here.  Some  little  fine  ore  and  sand  occur  north  on 
Krummerine's  farm. 

South  of  this  limestone  anticlinal  is  the  synclinal  of  Tus- 
sey  knob  and  Egg  hill,  from  which  the  Oneida  rocks  of  IV 
have  been  washed  away  between  these  two  spurs,  but  have 
left  a  long  belt  of  slates  intact.  This  slate  belt  averages 
about  1  mile  in  width. 

Egg  Hill  shows  only  a  small  remnant  of  IV  gray  Oneida 
about  2  miles  long  and  mainly  in  Gregg  township. 

It  is  of  simple  synclinal  structure,  and  its  axis  may  lap 
past  that  of  Tussey  mountain. 

The  south  dips  in  the  slates  are  about  40°,  but  the  north 
dips  much  steeper,  owing  to  the  presence  of  the  com- 
pressed George' s  Valley  anticlinal  on  the  south. 

Along  the  Sinking  creek  road,  these  gray  and  brown  slates 
dip  50°  N.  W.,  and  at  J.  Wolfs  55°.  Another  dip  of  70° 
N.  W.  was  obtained  about  200  yards  S.  W.  of  the  M.  E. 
Church  on  the  road  to  Potter's  Mills,  succeeded  at  pike  in 
tersection  by  No.  II  limestones. 

North,  the  slate  synclinal  shows  well  at  the  Sinking 
creek  crossing  in  dips  of  10°-20°  each  way,  continuing  on 
the  latter  dip  north  to  the  limestone. 

No.  Ill  slate  is  well  seen  north  at  J.  McCoy's,  where  in  a 
hollow  £  mile  north  of  the  "Loop''  road,  the  dip  is  nearly 
vertical  85°  N.  W. 


332  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'T 

Tussey  Knob  synclinal  carries  Medina  red  and  Oneida 
gray  sandstone  in  this  township.  The  axis  passes  north  of 
Rev.  D.  Kerr's  house,  exhibiting  along  road  dips  of  6°  N. 
W.  and  S.  E.,  rising  to  20°  south-east  on  the  hill  at  the 
Evangelical  Church,  and  45°  at  the  junction  of  the  lime- 
stone. South  of  the  axis  the  N.  W.  dips  are  steep,  50°  at 
Sinking  creek  crossing  and  60°  further  south  towards  the 
George's  Valley  anticlinal. 

George^  s  Valley  anticlinal  is  very  much  contracted  in  this 
township.  No  limestone  is  seen  further  west  than  P.  Ker- 
lin's,  where  it  is  only  about  250  yards  wide.  It  spreads  but 
little  eastward  until  nearing  the  Gregg  line  it  is  about  500 
yards  wide. 

It  is  a  regular  but  steeply  compressed  anticlinal.  On 
the  pike  north  of  Potter's  Mills  at  the  creek  crossing,  it  is 
slightly  quarried  from  an  exposure  60'  thick  of  blue  Tren- 
ton limestone  dipping  S.  25°  E.  70°-80°. 

North  of  J.  W.  McCoy's,  the  dip  is  74°  S.  E. ,  and  along 
the  "  Loop  "  road  west  from  here  limestone  shows  again  at 
the  cemetery  dipping  S.  E.  70°  close  to  the  junction  of  III. 
At  the  school  house  the  dip  is  50°  S.  E.  The  axis  passes 
near  J  no.  Moyer's  at  the  road  forks,  showing  a  north  dip  of 
78  \ 

Potter's  Mills  is  situated  on  the  slates  of  III,  which  are 
quarried  for  road  ballast  back  of  the  ruined  mill,  dipping 
40°-50°  south-east  into  the  mountain. 

Seven  mountains.  The  best  section  in  this  township  is 
developed  along  the  Lewistown  pike.  The  first  ridge  south 
of  Potter's  Mills  exposes  Oneida  sandstone  of  IV  high  on 
the  east  side  of  the  road,  dipping  48Q  S.  E.  and  succeeded  at 
the  bend  of  the  road  by  red  Medina,  with  about  the  same 
dip.  All  these  valleys  through  the  mountains  in  the  middle 
members  of  IV  are  distinctly  made  up  of  red  shale  and  sand- 
stone to  the  exclusion  of  olive  and  green  slates  and  lower 
conglomerate.  No  middle  hill  of  white  Medina  is  seen  in 
Triester  valley,  so  that  the  red  Medina  makes  up  both  sides 
of  this  synclinal,  well  marked  where  the  pike  turns  west  at 
the  small  stream  crossing,  by  dips  of  0°-10°  each  way. 

North,  at  the  wood  road  to  the  east,  15'  of  red  shale  and 


22.    GREGG  TOWNSHIP.     .  T4.   333 

sandstone  dips  S.  E.  35°,  again  exposed  inclining  the  same 
way  30°  at  the  toll  gate.  South  of  the  axis,  the  same  rocks 
dip  20°  northward,  succeeded  by  Oneida  sandstone,  fine- 
grained, dipping  40°. 

This  ridge  forms  the  north  barrier  of  the  little  Decker 
slate  valley,  which  is  a  tight  anticlinal  only  bringing  up 
the  No.  Ill  slates  to  daylight.  Crossing  this  valley.  Sand 
Ridge  is  made  up  of  IV  Oneida  dipping  south-east  under 
Foust's  or  Underwood's  red  Medina  valley,  a  broad  synclinal 
basin  extending  to  the  Mifflin  county  line.  The  spur  of 
Bald  mountain  in  IV  white  Medina  dies  west  of  the  pike,  but 
is  continued  further  east  near  the  Gregg  line  in  Paddy's 
mountain. 

The  mountain  at  Potter's  Mills  extends  east  and  west 
into  adjoining  townships,  only  once  gapped  by  Laurel  run 
at  W.  Boal's  saw  mill. 

Triester  Valley  extends  unbroken  into  Gregg,  but  divides 
west  near  the  Harris  line  to  receive  "Thick  Head  Knob" 
of  white  Medina  encircling  the  Bare  Meadows  to  the  west. 

Decker  Valley  in  No.  Ill  contracts  west  to  Underwood' s 
saw  mill,  where  the  retaining  wall  of  Oneida  sandstone  circles 
around  it,  the  latter  being  in  turn  surrounded  by  IV  red 
Medina  near  the  head  waters  of  Laurel  run. 

East,  the  valley  spreads  somewhat  into  Confer  valley,  but 
is  never  over  a  half  or  three  quarters  miles  wide. 

The  Foust  Valley  synclinal  forks  westward  to  admit  of 
the  central  keel  of  Bald  mountain,  but  is  unbroken  north  of 
Paddy  or  Long  mountain  into  Gregg  township. 

22.  Gregg  township. 

This  township  is  but  a  continuation  eastward  of  the  topo- 
graphical features  of  Potter. 

N iitany  mountain  is  partially  gapped  by  a  small  branch 
of  Penn's  creek,  though  its  central  rib  of  white  Medina  re- 
mains intact.  The  road  crossing  to  Hecla  shows  this  central 
ridge  as  a  broad  synclinal  double  mountain,  receiving  east 
the  Clinton  shales  and  sandstones  of  No.  V. 

South  along  the  road,  the  red  rocks  of  IV  dip  60°  N.  W. 
succeeded  by  those  of  the  Oneida  member  with  a  dip  of  58°. 


834  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

No.  Ill  is  not  well  exposed,  but  continues  south  of  the 
terrace  to  where  a  sink-hole  marks  the  junction  of  No.  II. 

Brush  Valley  anticlinal,  continued  west  from  the  Miles 
line,  is  steadily  rising  and  bringing  up  lower  measures.  It  is 
very  straight  in  this  township  and  practically  trends  along 
valley  road.  Numerous  sink-holes  cause  a  very  uneven 
contour.  At  S.  Yearick'  s  the  dip  is  65°  N.  W.,  and  at  the  M. 
E.  church,  two  good  exposures  of  siliceous  limestone  dip 
70°.  Along  road  through  Brush  mountain,  No.  II  dips  15° 
S.  E.,  close  to  the  edge  of  the  slates. 

The  axis  is  south  of  the  valley  road  here  and  the  arch 
shows  much  steeper  north  dips  than  south  ones. 

Long' s  Cave  is  one  of  the  best  known  examples  of  the 
sink-holes  that  may  occur  anywhere  in  these  valleys.  It  is 
about  4  miles  east  of  Centre  Hall  and  3  miles  north-west  of 
Spring  Mills.  Many  people  visit  this  underground  opening. 

The  stream  issuing  from  Hecla  gap  north  of  it,  sinks  in 
No.  II  at  J.  White's  house  north  of  the  Brush  Valley  road. 

It  courses  thence  underground  to  Long's  place,  where  an 
entrance  by  steps  about  25'  high  leads  to  the  surface  of  the 
water  in  the  cave.  An  excellent  exposure,  about  30'  thick 
of  fine  French  gray  limestone,  fills  in  the  face  of  the  open- 
ing, dipping  S.  30°  E.  45°  and  creating  a  picturesque  en- 
trance. 

The  cave  is  simply  a  fissure  in  this  limestone  rock.  It  is 
about  1260'  long  and  is  arched  from  6  to  40  feet  above  the 
surface  of  the  water.  Its  width  varies  greatly,  in  some 
places  being  scarcely  wide  enough  to  admit  of  the  passage 
of  a  5'  scow,  used  to  navigate  this  underground  stream,  and 
again  widening  through  a  dry  chamber  200'  northwards. 

The  depth  of  the  water  is  from  12  to  17  feet,  with  a  con- 
siderable fall.  At  its  exit,  the  water  is  dammed  for  a  saw- 
mill, and  there  would  seem  to  be  quite  sufficient  power  to 
furnish  an  electric  light  for  the  cave. 

From  the  inclined  roof  of  the  cave  the  stalactites  are  sus- 
pended, comparatively  few  in  number  and  of  no  great  beauty 
of  form  and  color,  the  smoke  of  candles  and  lamps  having 
done  much  to  soot  their  surfaces. 

The  stalactites  and  stalagmites  are  usually  short,  the  best 


22.    GREGG  TOWNSHIP.  T*.  335 

forms  showing  in  the  dry  chamber,  though  a  very  beautiful 
cluster  is  ^seen  about  500'  from  the  entrance,  where  some 
pillars  6'  to  8'  long  occur,  with  fine  combs  of  a  moss-like 
character. 

Quite  a  canopy  of  stalactites  form  a  quadrant  arch  here, 
taking  very  attractive  forms. 

The  cave  has  been  opened  for  about  twenty-six  years  and 
yet  very  little  has  been  done  to  enhance  the  natural  beauty 
of  the  spot. 

West  of  White's,  the  dip  along  the  road  is  70°  N".  W.,  suc- 
ceeded shortly  along  the  cross-road  to  the  south  of  J. 
Weaver's  by  dips  of  42°  S.  E.  At  Long's  house,  in  private 
lane,  some  good  exposures  of  gray  and  slaty  blue  limestone 
occur  with  dips  of  4o°,  48°,  and  50°,  all  to  south-east  into  the 
synclinal  of  Brush  mountain,  whose  sand-rock  members 
have  disappeared  at  this  point,  but  whose  supporting  slates 
of  No.  Ill  stretch  in  a  narrow  basin  nearly  to  Centre  Hall 
in  Potter  township. 

Brush  valley  is  a  scant  mile  in  width,  and  as  its  rocks  are 
steeply  upturned,  erosion  is  marked. 

Brush  mountain  ends  in  a  knob,  south-east  of  the  cave, 
formed  of  Oneida  gray  sandstone,  separating  2  miles  further 
east  at  the  road- crossing,  but  retaining  no  red  Medina  until 
at  the  Penn  township  corner.  See  map. 

Several  small  streams  gap  the  north  ridge,  only  to  sink 
on  striking  the  margin  of  the  valley  limestones.  The  latter 
dip  15°  S.  E.  at  the  road  crossing  the  mountain,  succeeded 
south  by  slate,  and  eventually  IV  Oneida,  dipping  20°. 

At  the  bend  of  the  road  south  at  the  springs  in  the  gap, 
the  same  rock  dips  N.  W.  40°,  so  that  the  synclinal  passes 
closer  to  the  north  ridge. 

The  slates  of  III  cover  nearly  a  mile  of  territory  south 
along  this  road  to  Penn  Hall,  and  apparently  contain  a  small 
and  local  anticlinal  flexure  to  give  them  that  expanse. 

The  dips  near  the  mountain  are  about  30°  N.  W.,  but 
near  the  junction  of  II  they  are  thrown  up  to  60°.  A  com- 
bination of  these  dips,  with  one  of  50°  further  west  along 
the  mountain  road,  would  produce  an  enormous  thickness, — 


33C  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D  IXVILLI  KRS. 

at  least  250(/. — for  No.  Ill,  which  is  hardly  possible  in  the 
face  of  so  many  proofs  elsewhere  to  the  contrary. 

The  Pe7irf s  Valley  anticlinal  to  the  south,  entering  from 
Penn  township  north  of  the  pike,  is  well  marked  on  the 
road  north  from  Penn  Hall  at  A.  Bartges,  with  dips  of  60 
N.  W.  and  20°  S.  E. 

This  steep  north-west  dip  must  have  been  caused  by  the 
presumed  roll  in  No.  Ill  to  the  north,  for  in  continuing 
along  the  axis  west,  it  shows  one  mile  north  of  Spring  Mills 
in  a  broad  arch  with  north-west  dips  of  only  10°,  succeeded 
north  by  16°  and  15°  to  the  slates  of  Brush  mountain,  and 
with  dips  of  35°-40°  south-east  on  the  south  side  of  the 
anticlinal. 

Moreover,  from  the  Penn's  line  west  to  Spring  Mills,  the 
limestone  area  is  just  as  much  contracted  as  the  slate  belt 
has  spread,  being  only  about  f  miles  here  as  against  2  miles 
at  the  Potter  line. 

The  pike  ^  mile  east  ol  Penn  Hall,  shows  a  quarry  in  II, 
displaying  15'  of  limestone  overlaid  with  2'  slate,  dipping 
S.  36°  E.  30°. 

North  of  the  forks  at  the  B.  S.  S.  there  is  quite  a  stretch 
of  blue  limestone  exposed,  dipping  S.  27°  E.  22°. 

West  from  Penn  Hall,  the  pike  runs  along  the  south  base 
of  a  high,  dolomitic  limestone  ridge,  all  cultivated  and  clear, 
and  showing  dips  of  S.  33°  E.  30°-35°. 

Penn's  creek  north  of  Spring  Mills,  shows  a  fine  exposure 
of  II,  the  side  hills  being  stripped  for  75  yards  along  the 
road,  with  dips  of  about  S.  35°  E.  35°-40°  in  blue  and  gray 
cherty  limestone,  also  cropping  on  the  west  side  of  the 
creek. 

North  of  the  anticlinal,  crossing  this  road  near  a  private 
lane,  almost  Continuous  exposures  of  broken  limestone  ex 
tend  from  Gr.  tJornman's  to  the  edge  of  III,  split  up  with 
cleavage  joints  dipping  steeply  80°  S.  E.,  but  the  beds  them- 
selves dipping  apparently  from  6°-15°  N.  W. 

The  limestones  exttnd  south  to  Sinking  creek,  dipping  at 
angles  of  about  30°  south-east  under  the  slates  of  the  E<ig 
Hill  synclinal.  This  hill  of  Oneida  is  but  a  remnant  2  miles 


22.    GREGG  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  337 

long,  supported  on  No.  Ill  slates,  and  dividing  Penn's  val- 
ley proper  from  George's  valley  and  the  Loop. 

It  is,  of  course,  of  synclinal  structure,  its  south  ridge  dip- 
ping more  steeply  (N.  W.  60°-70°)  than  its  north  and  more 
gently  (40°  S.  E.)  inclined  member. 

'  It  is  flanked  by  Hudson  River  slates,  which  extend  from 
its  eastern  flank  clear  across  the  township  and  into  Penn. 

It  shows  dips  of  12°  south-east  on  the  road  south  from 
Spring  Mills,  in  a  splendid  exposure  of  firm,  gray  and  brown 
slates  in  a  cut  below  the  new  hotel,  and  30°  S.  E.  below 
Penn  Hall. 

On  the  same  road  near  J.  Oswald's  place,  the  dip  is  60°  N. 
W.,  and  at  the  church  it  rises  to  70°,  showing  the  character 
of  this  synclinal  trough. 

On  the  road  south  of  Egg  hill  nearT.  Decker' s  house,  the 
lower  fissile  Utica  black  slates  of  III  dip  74°  N.  W.  into  the 
hill. 

They  are  very  much  broken  and  weather  red. 

The  George^  s  Valley  anticlinal  succeeds  this  synclinal  on 
the  south,  between  Egg  hill  and  the  Seven  mountains.  In 
this  township  it  shows  everywhere  a  regular  and  a  gentle 
arch,  with  dips  of  10°  N.  W.  and  15°-20°  S.  E,  contracting 
however,  towards  Potter  where  steeper  dips  prevail. 

No.  II  shows  in  R.  R.  bank  above  red  brick  school-house 
dipping  S.  E.  15°.  The  road  leading  east  from  the  school  to 
Heckman's,  passes  over  a  considerable  area  of  dark  red  soil 
and  shale  due  to  the  decomposition  of  an  argillaceous  lime- 
stone cropping  in  several  places  with  a  south-east  dip  of 
about  20°. 

While  regularly  arched,  the  floor  of  George's  valley  is  by 
no  means  smooth,  being  made  up  of  detached  hills,  whose 
soft  Trenton  limestones  have  been  readily  eroded  through 
numerous  small  streams  and  branches  of  Penn's  creek. 

Seven  Mountains.     The  southern  portion  of  this  town- 
ship is  beautifully  diversified  by  the  intrusion  of  small  por- 
tions of  the  Confer  andPoe  slate  valley  anticlinals  into  the 
wide  sand  flat  of  Oneida  No.  IV. 
22  T. 


338  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

The  slates  supporting  the  seventh  mountain  along  Penn' s 
creek  dip  everywhere  at  slight  angles  (20°)  into  the  ridge. 

The  road  leading  south  from  the  M.  E.  Church  in  George's 
valley  into  Confer  valley,  presents  a  wide  section  of  III  oc- 
cupying the  flat  ground  to  the  south  of  the  new  saw  mill, 
where  it  meets  No.  IV  Oneida  in  a  perfect  exposure  170' 
thick,  almost  without  a  break,  in  massive  gray,  line  grained 
sandstone,  dipping  S.  28°  E.  30°.  At  the  creek  crossing 
heading  up  towards  P.  Auman's,  No.  IV  middle  or  red 
Medina  sandstone  shows  25'  thick  in  massive  sandstone  and 
flags,  and  again  exposed  at  the  next  creek  crossing  south 
with  the  same  dip. 

South  of  this  the  creek  winds  eastward  in  the  basin  of 
the  synclinal.  It  makes  a  breach  in  the  opposing  ridge  of 
Oneida  sandstone  i  mile  further  south,  where  25'  of  gray 
sandstone  dips  about  60°  N.  W.  about  50  yards  north  of 
Brillinger's  old  mill. 

This  breach  leads  into  Confer  valley — a  slate  anticlinal  of 
III — which  narrows  and  heads  up  eastward  near  the  M.  E. 
Church,  around  which  the  two  mountains  of  IV  circle  and 
lorm  a  high  knob. 

Confer  valley  is  about  250  rods  wide  at  the  Potter  line, 
and  shows  a  regular  arch  with  the  axis  along  the  north  side 
of  the  valley.  It  is  not  yet  the  garden  spot  it  is  capable  of 
being  made  by  a  liberal  use  of  fertilizers  or  even  burnt  lime 
from  the  valley  ;  but  even  now  it  is  tolerably  well  cleared 
and  cultivated. 

From  its  east  head  a  wide  sand  plateau  of  IV  Oneida  ex- 
tends to  the  Penn  line,  holding  this  anticlinal  and  the  syn- 
clinal of  Foust  valley  and  spreading  south  to  the  Poe  val- 
ley anticline.  This  slate  valley  heads  westward  from  Penn 
township  and  is  similarly  encircled  with  No.  IV  Oneida 
ridges  to  Confer  valley. 

The  synclinal  of  Foust' s  valley,  between  Poe  and  Confer, 
shoals  eastward  before  reaching  the  Penn  line,  while  to  the 
south,  the  Mifflin  county  line  is  marked  by  the  high  straight 
ridge  of  white  Medina  known  as  Long  or  Paddy  mountain. 
This  portion  of  Gregg  township  is  wild  and  still  heavily 
timbered. 


23.    PENN  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  339 

23.    Penn  township. 

Penn  township  is  nearly  a  parallelogram,  bounded  on 
the  north  by  Brush  mountain,  and  on  the  south  by  the 
white  Medina  ridge  of  Paddy's  mountain. 

Brush  Mountain  synclinal  consists  here  of  the  two 
lower  members  of  IV,  the  middle  red  Medina  member  con- 
tracting rapidly  from  its  splendid  outcrop  in  the  Millheim 
gap  to  the  narrow  elevated  vale  at  the  Gregg  line,  with  the 
bounding  mountain  ridges  of  the  Oneida  sandstone  form- 
ing the  two  sides  of  the  synclinal. 

There  is  only  one  breach  in  this  mountain  in  the  town- 
ship— that  made  by  Elk  creek  through  the  Millheim  gap 

but  it  is  not  surpassed  for  beauty  or  exposures  by  any  of 
the  mountain  gaps  in  this  part  of  the  county. 

Leaving  the  Miles  line  in  the  synclinal  of  red  Medina, 
where  an  abnormal  dip  of  80°  X.  W.  is  seen,  the  pike  runs 
south  along  the  west  side  of  Elk  creek,  and,  after  one  or  two 
apparent  rolls  in  the  rocks,  the  dips  settle  down  to  an  aver- 
age north-west  inclination  of  25°-30°  to  the  bend  at  the 
saw-mill. 

About  50  yards  X.  of  the  mill,  30'  of  massive  red  sand- 
stone shows,  though  almost  continuously  exposed  north  to 
the  Miles  line. 

South  from  the  mill,  an  exposure  of  sandstone  and  shale 
continues  for  500  yards,  showing  massive  beds  20'  thick 
with  shaly  partings,  aggregating  on  a  30°  dip  nearly  900 
feet  of  red  rocks. 

At  next  bend,  just  north  of  the  toll-house,  the  gray  Oneida 
is  magnificently  exposed  in  a  bed  35'  thick  on  both  sides  of 
the  creek,  dipping  conformably  with  the  overlying  red  sand- 
stone, and  making  almost  a  solid  rock  exposure  from  the 
saw-mill  to  the  toll-house.  At  the  Clover  Mill  dam,  another 
excellent  exposure  in  this  member  dips  N.  28°-30°,  W.  35- 
40°,  continued  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  creek  in  a  series 
of  bold  out-crops  for  100'  further  south,  the  ledges  rising 
60'  above  the  creek  and  consisting  of  massive  gray  sandstone 
in  beds  40'  thick  on  dips  of  about  N.  30°,  W.  40°-50°. 

The  hill  is  profusely  covered  with  timber,  and  its  wild 


340  T4.     REPOKT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

and  rugged  scenery  forms  a  striking  contrast  to  the  beauti- 
ful  rolling  limestone  country  to  the  south. 

The  slates  of  III  come  in  just  south  of  the  mill  and  show 
well  along  the  east  bank  of  the  creek,  where  they  have 
been  drifted  upon  for  some  distance  in  the  hopes  of  finding 
coal. 

They  dip  50°  N.,  27°  W.,  and  extend  a  short  distance 
south  of  the  dam  before  meeting  the  Trenton  beds  of  the 
lower  Silurian  limestones  of  II  in  Penn's  valley. 

Penri1  s  Valley  anticlinal  is  steadily  rising  and  trending 
northwards  from  the  Haines  line.  It  passes  500  yards 
south  of  Millheim,  crosses  to  the  north  side  of  the  pike 
somewhere  near  the  school-house  2  miles  west  of  the  village, 
and  thence  to  Gregg  township.  Along  its  arch  south  of 
Millheim,  it  brings  up  some  of  the  upper  magnesian  layers 
below  the  Trenton  beds,  corresponding  to  those  just  north 
of  Bellefonte,  and  which,  being  slightly  ferriferous,  show 
some  little  traces  of  ore  here  on  the  Stover  farm  and  further 
west. 

The  pike  from  Millheim  to  Aaronsburg  rises  over  a  large 
hill  of  No.  II,  dipping  60  N.  W.  towards  Brush  mountain, 
and  on  the  Millheim  Gap  road,  \  mile  north  of  the  cross 
roads,  it  is  quarried  and  burned. 

It  shows  Trenton  limestone  in  the  north  quarry  60'  thick, 
dipping  N.  30°  W.  80°.  The  south  quarry  shows  two  mas- 
sive beds  of  good  stone,  each  4'  thick. 

West  of  the  Millheim  church  at  the  U.  B.  church  the  dip 
is  64°  and  east  of  the  school-house  60°-62°  north-west. 

The  Egg  Hill  synclinal  has  lost  its  force  in  this  township, 
only  showing  a  patch  of  III  on  the  Gregg  line,  and  having 
but  little  effect  on  the  limestone,  unless  it  be  to  lessen  the 
dip  of  the  south  leg  of  the  Penn's  Valley  axis. 

In  consequence  of  this  dying  away,  there  is  practically  one 
broad  limestone  valley,  2£  miles  wide,  from  Brush  mountain 
to  Penn's  creek  at  the  north  base  of  the  Seven  mountains, 
with  two.  anticlinal  rolls,  and  a  sharp  basin  between  them. 

On  the  road  south  from  the  school,  No.  II,  at  A.  Hoster- 
man's,  dips  S.  E.  28°,  outcropping  in  ledges  with  the  same 
dip  to  the  cross-roads. 


23.    PENN  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  341 

At  S.  Krape's  there  is  another  outcrop  greatly  cut  up 
with  cleavage  planes,  which  I  have  interpreted  as  N.  29° 
W.  45°,  placing  the  Egg  Hill  synclinal  north  of  his  house 
and  the  Pine  Creek  or  south  anticlinal  near  B  S.  S. 

South  from  Millheim,  the  pike  shows  excellent  exposures 
in  II.  The  first,  at  the  mill,  dips  N.  W.  70°  with  cleavage, 
and  the  same  at  the  second  bend  further  south.  . 

The  Penn's  Valley  axis  passes  somewhere  near  here,  for 
at  G.  Schwartz's  private  lane  the  dip  is  12°  S.  E.,  and  below 
J.  Dame' s  20°  S.  E.  The  dip  stiffens  to  30°  opposite  D.  Krea- 
mer's,  and  to  40°  below  J.  Dinge's  estate,  south  of  which 
the  synclinal  is  developed  in  a  gentle  basin,  with  dips  of  4° 
each  way.  The  basin  is  shallow  and  narrow  and  quickly 
rises  to  the  Pine  Creek-George's  Valley  anticlinal. 

This  axis  is  much  straighter  than  the  northern  arch,  and 
can  be  traced  in  this  township  in  an  almost  direct  line  from 
just  north  of  the  toll-gate  at  the  intersection  of  Elk  and  Pine 
creeks,  a  little  south  of  west  to  the  Gregg  line  on  the  road 
from  Coburn  to  Spring  Mills. 

North  of  the  toll-house,  theN.  W.  dip  is  about  40°  ;  south 
of  it  No.  II  shows  in  the  creek,  dipping  S.  E.  42°.  Again, 
100  yards  further  south,  a  good  quality  of  blue  and  white 
stone  massive,  50'  thick,  dips  45°.  Fifty  yards  further  a 
magnificent  exposure  occurs,  dipping  40°-60°  for  300  yards 
to  the  bend  of  the  road  west  to  Coburn,  showing  fine-grained 
smooth  blue  and  white  limestone  SOO'-j-  thick,  and  one  of 
the  best  outcrops  in  the  township. 

Hick's  cement  works  is  supplied  from  near  the  junction 
of  the  magnesian  and  Trenton  limestones  and  in  the  road, 
east  into  Haines  township,  150'  of  excellent  limestone  shows 
below  the  works,  dipping  south-east  40°-50°. 

Further  west  in  this  township,  this  anticlinal  is  seen  north 
of  the  Evangelical  church,  south  of  which  No.  II  dips  S.  28° 
E.  62°,  and  again  at  the  intersection  of  Pine  Creek  road  in 
a  reef  of  rock  dipping  S.  25°  E.  22°. 

On  the  private  road  north  from  the  saw-mill  near  the 
Gregg  line,  No.  II  dips  50°  south-east,  and  at  Nee's  house 
70°  N.  W.,  with  the  Pine  Creek  anticlinal  between  the  out- 
crops. 


342  T4.      TCEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIKRS. 

The  little  village  of  Coburn,  situated  close  to  the  junction 
of  Penn's,  Pine,  and  Elk  creek,  in  front  of  the  great  gap  in 
the  Seven  mountains,  and  the  L.  &  T.  R.  R.  station  for  Mill- 
heim,  bids  fair  to  assume  importance  in  the  near  future.  Its 
principal  shipping  interest  now  is  lumber,  though  its  valley, 
being  made  up  of  the  Trenton  argillaceous  limestones,  will 
soon  assume  agricultural  prestige.  Its  scenery  is  beautiful. 

Seven  Mountains.  Properly  these  mountains,  with  their 
included  slate  valleys,  take  up  about  one  half  of  the  town- 
ship. 

Penn's  creek,  entering  from  Gregg  township,  practically 
divides  II  and  III  as  far  as  Coburn  station,  where  it  changes 
its  course  to  south-east,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  Pine 
and  Elk  creek  waters,  plunges  through  a  splendid  gap  in 
the  mountain  and  establishes  the  course  of  the  railroad  line 
to  Lewisburg. 

South  of  Coburn,  No.  Ill  dips  S.  26°  E.  60°  in  a  cut  below 
the  station. 

Entering  the  first  or  outer  mountain  of  IV  Oneida,  cut 
down  to  its  base,  there  is  nearly  200'  of  massive  gray  sand- 
stone exposed  on  both  sides  of  the  creek,  dipping  S.  30°  E. 
42°. 

This  is  followed  by  red  Medina  at  a  small  stream  heading 
west  from  R.  R.,  which  occupies  the  railroad  for  half  a  mile 
in  a  shallow  synclinal,  with  an  initial  dip  of  S.  24°  E.  25°, 
and  one  of  K  28°  W.  30°  higher  on  the  hill  above  the 
Beaver  dam  tunnel. 

At  the  tunnel,  the  hill  is  only  about  60'  above  the  track, 
rising  east  and  west  on  both  sides  of  the  creek. 

East  of  the  tunnel,  there  is  a  magnificent  exposure  of  IV 
gray  Oneida,  forming  the  north  barrier  to  the  little  slate 
valley  to  the  south.  The  rock  rises  in  ledges  80'  high,  and 
dips  about  N.  28°  W.  48°. 

Oneida  sandstone  shows  about  225'  thick  in  the  tunnel, 
mixed  with  some  yellow  slate  with  a  wavy  structure. 

At  the  north  entrance  the  dip  is  about  N.  26°  W.  47°, 
while  at  the  south  end  it  is  much  steeper. 

Emerging  from  the  tunnel,  the  railroad  passes  through  a 
small  slate  valley  (anticlinal)  to  Fowler's  station  in  Haines. 


23.    PEtfN  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  343 

The  slate  reaches  north  to  the  face  of  the  tunnel,  and  its 
junction  with  IV  is  plainly  marked  about  8'  from  the  south 
tunnel  head. 

The  upper  part  of  III  shows  about  15'  black  and  brown 
slate,  alternating  with  gray  sandstone,  gradually  passing 
into  IV. 

The  dip  here  is  about  N.  20°  W.  64°,  and  is  about  60° 
half  way  down  the  track  to  the  Haines  line. 

This  little  valley,  called  "  Lechathal"  or  Lick  valley  by 
the  Dutch  residents,  is  only  about  half  a  mile  wide,  and  heads 
up  west  in  this  township  into  an  elevated  sand  flat  of  IV 
Oneida,  before  mentioned  in  Gregg  township. 

On  the  road  leading  south  from  the  saw  mill  on  the  Penn's 
creek  road  in  George's  valley,  near  the  Gregg  line  a  section 
of  these  same  rocks  is  exposed,  showing  first  II  south  of 
the  track,  overlaid  with  Hudson  river  slates  of  III,  dipping 
S.  E.  35°. 

This  is  followed  by  Oneida  south  of  the  first  dwelling,  with 
same  dip,  continuing  to  the  bend  of  the  road  at  the  small 
stream  crossing,  which  marks  the  beginning  of  the  red 
member,  with  a  south-east  dip  of  20°  in  the  north  leg  of  the 
synclinal. 

Half  mile  south  of  G.  Confer' s  north  dipping  Oneida 
marks  the  south  side  of  this  red  shale  and  sandstone  valley, 
as  well  as  the  north  barrier  to  the  wide  sand  plateau,  with 
an  anticlinal  and  synclinal,  and  forming  the  mountain  ridge 
encircling  the  Poe  valley  to  the  south. 

This  is  another  slate  anticlinal  of  III,  and  stretches  across 
the  township  from  east  to  west  from  S.  Lingle's  saw  mill  to 
Mussert  &  Gepheart's  old  mill. 

Two  rough  roads  enter  it  from  the  north  at  either  end, 
and  a  wood  road  traverses  the  creek.  The  valley  is  about 
i  mile  wide,  and  is  a  regular  tight  anticlinal  of  slate,  sup- 
porting on  its  south  leg  the  successive  members  of  IV  with 
the  straight  white  Medina  crest  of  Paddy's  mountain 
marking  the  Mifflin  county  line. 


344  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V. -D'lNVILLIKRS. 

24.   Miles  township. 

This  long  and  slender  township  lies  north  of  Penn  and 
Haines,  with  the  Clinton  county  line  for  its  north  bound- 
ary along  Nittany  mountain. 

The  structure  of  this  complex  mountain  divide  has  been 
elsewhere  discussed  ;  but,  in  general,  along  this  border  line, 
it  presents  a  double  or  triple  synclinal  range  of  hills  be- 
tween the  anticlinals  of  Sugar  Valley,  in  Clinton,  on  the 
north,  and  Brush  valley  on  the  south,  both  of  which  lift 
the  lower  Silurian  limestones  to  daylight. 

The  Madisonburg  road  continues  south  from  the  Walker 
line  in  the  gap,  passes  over  a  wide  and  deep  valley  of  red 
Medina  IV,  drained  by  the  headwaters  of  Dry  run  north  to 
Fishing  creek.  This  is  of  anticlinal  structure,  owing  to 
the  insertion  of  the  Sugar  Valley  axis  from  Clinton  county, 
which  flexure  dies  rapidly  westward  in  white  Medina. 

The  south  mountain  in  this  rock  is  a  tightly-folded  syn- 
clinal, but  once  exposed  on  the  Madisonburg  road  close  to  the 
junction  of  the  road  to  Rebersburg,  with  a  N.  W.  dip  of  50°, 
and  continuing  east  a  short  distance  beyond  the  Rebers- 
burg-Tylerville  crossing,  where  its  south  limb  dips  70°  N. 
W.,  east  of  which  this  middle  keel  is  swept  away. 

To  the  south  of  this  a  narrow  and  elevated  vale  of  IV  red 
Medina  occurs,  dipping  north-west ;  exposed  on  the  road, 
dipping  55°  N.  W.,  and  showing  a  dip  of  70°  further  east. 

Still  further  south,  the  terrace  mountain  of  Oneida  shows 
an  outcrop  of  gray  sandstone  inclined  68°  towards  the 
north-west,  supported  on  Hudson  river  slates  from  above 
the  dam  to  the  sink-hole  at  the  roadside,  and  then  No.  II 
Trenton  limestone  to  Madisonburg. 

This  village,  like  Aaronsburg,  is  supplied  with  water 
from  a  dam  or  reservoir  by  a  system  of  wooden  pipes  through 
the  streets,  by  natural  pressure. 

The  Rebersburg  road  shows  the  Brush  Valley  anticlinal 
north  of  that  village,  with  dips  of  60°  ~N.  W.  and  only  10° 
S.  E.,  and  coursing  thence  S.  W.,  but  still  north  of  Mad- 
isonburg. 

The  slates  of  III  commence  at  the  first  intersection  north 
of  Rebersburg,  and  their  steep  N.  W.  dip  carries  them  well 


24.    MILES  TOWNSHIP.  T\   345 

up  the  mountain  liank.  About  100  yards  south  of  summit 
and  430'  above  Rebersburg,  No.  IV"  gray  Oneida  sandstone 
shows  40'  thick,  dipping  70°  X.  W.,  mixed  north  with 
shal/  sandstone  and  slate.  The  white  Medina  crest  shows 
a  similar  X.  W.  dip  against  one  of  only  40°  S.  E.  in  the 
other  leg  of  the  synclinal  in  Clinton  county. 

The  middle  (red)  member  of  IV  shoals  in  turn  %  mile  east 
of  the  next  road  crossing  beyond  Wolfs  store. 

Oneida  sandstone  dips  to  the  south  of  this  55°  N.  W., 
encircling  the  middle  member  eastward  and  forming  a  high 
knob  of  Oneida,  with  similar  rocks  meeting  it  here  under 
similar  circumstances  from  the  White  Deer  synclinal. 

Thus  the  road  leading  down  to  Stover's  place  shows  the 
middle  red  member  shoaling  westward,  exposed  with  a  dip 
of  60°  N.  W.  in  the  south  leg  of  the  White  Deer  synclinal, 
widening  eastward  into  an  elevated  plateau  of  red  Medina, 
in  turn  receiving  the  upper  white  Medina  member  in  White 
Deer  knob. 

To  the  north  of  this  synclinal,  the  White  Deer  creek 
courses  in  an  anticlinal  slate  valley  of  III,  heading  west  in 
Hall's  hollow  and  overlaid  north  by  the  sand  rocks  of  the 
successive  members  of  IV  to  the  county  line  synclinal  of 
white  Medina. 

Oneida  sandstone  makes  a  low  ridge  south  of  the  White 
Deer  crest,  exposed  on  the  road  north  of  Stover's  place  at 
the  steam  saw  mill  with  dips  of  50°  N.  W.  and  swinging  east 
along  the  Brush  Valley  road,  shutting  up  the  "narrows" 
in  Union  county  and  circling  back  to  form  the  north  terrace 
of  Brush  mountain. 

The  "  narrows  "  consist  of  the  slate  of  III  from  the  county 
line  as  far  west  as  Rudy's  saw  mill ;  but  the  anticlinal,  ris- 
ing westward,  brings  up  the  Trenton  limestone  here  which 
forms  the  valley  of  Elk  creek  and  on  to  the  Gregg  town- 
ship line. 

As  far  as  the  first  dam  west  of  Wolfs  store,  the  stream 
carries  limestone  on  both  sides  ;  but  'from  there  west  to 
Rockville,  it  forms  the  divide  between  II  and  III.  The  an- 
ticlinal keeps  close  to  the  north  side  of  the  road,  showing 
there  gentle  S.  E.  dips  of  10°  and  12°. 


346  T.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

South  of  Wolfs  store,  however,  Trenton  limestone  dips 
S.  15°  E.  50°,  approaching  Elk  creek  and  Brush  mountain. 

South  of  Rockville  the  dip  is  32°  ;  south  of  Centre  Mills 
18°  and  20°,  which  is  about  the  normal  dip  west  to  the  Gregg 
line.  The  whole  surface  of  this  narrow  valley  is  very  ir- 
regular and  hilly  owing  to  steep  north  dips  and  the  erosion 
of  Elk  creek.  Numerous  sink  holes  occur  also. 

Brush  Mountain  Synclinal.  From  the  Gregg  line  east 
to  the  Aaronsburg-Rebersburg  crossing,  this  mountain 
shows  only  a  double  synclinal  ridge  of  Oneida  sandstone, 
with  an  elevated  valley  of  red  Medina  enclosed  between 
them.  Immediately  east  of  this  road,  however,  the  middle 
keel  of  IV  white  Medina  rises  in  a  bold  knob  to  nearly 
twice  the  height  of  the  terrace  mountain  and  from  here  east 
to  the  Union  line,  a  distance  of  12  miles,  this  central  ridge 
is  nowhere  gapped. 

It  everywhere  presents  a  straight,  unbroken  crest  of  un- 
varying elevation,  and  receives  now  the  local  name  of  "  Big 
Mountain."  The  north  terrace  then  becomes  "Brush 
Mountain"  and  the  included  red  shale  and  sandstone 
valley  "Brush  Mountain  hollow."  So  likewise  the  south 
terrace  has  received  the  local  name  of  "Painter's  Moun- 
tain" and  its  red  shale  valley  "Painter's  Valley." 

The  Millheim  gap  in  this  township  shows  the  uppermost 
Trenton  limestone  layers  in  a  series  of  fine  exposures  south 
of  Centre  Mills,  dipping  south-east. 

To  the  south,  just  at  the  village  of  Spring  Bank,  No.  Ill 
slates  appear  inclined  S.  35°  E.  25°-30°.  A  short  distance 
south  of  the  road  forks,  Oneida  gray  sandstone  commences, 
with  a  profusion  of  gray  boulders. 

This  outer  mountain,  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek,  shows 
one  of  the  best  exposures  of  the  Oneida  rocks  in  the  county, 
highly  conglomeritic,  and  measurable  180  feet  thick  on  a 
dip  of  S.  30°  E.  45°-50°. 

Elk  creek  here  is  a  stream  of  considerable  strength,  and 
has  created  a  wide  breach  in  the  mountain. 

At  the  "2  mile  post  to  Millheim  IV  red  commences,  dip- 
ping 50'  south  of  post  S.  32°  E.  45°  in  red  shale  and  sand- 
stone. 


25.    HAINES  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  347 

This  is  followed  by  successive  outcrops  of  similar  rocks, 
in  the  next  300  yards  to  the  center  of  the  synclinal  by  dips 
of  40°,  30°,  and  20°,  and  finally  rising  in  the  south  leg  in 
an  80°  N.  W.  dip. 

The  road  out  of  Rockville  across  the  mountain  shows 
Oneida  sandstone  in  the  terrace,  dipping  S.  E.  50°. 

So  the  road  south  from  Wolfs  store  shows  III  south  of 
Elk  creek  riding  well  up  the  flank  of  the  terrace  mountain. 

Big  mountain  makes  the  Haines  township  line.  Its  sum- 
mit here  is  875'  above  Elk  creek,  and  the  mountain  shows 
a  compact  synclinal  form  not  bifurcated  into  two  mountain 
ranges  until  it  passes  east  into  Union  county. 

It  shows  no  rock  exposures  on  the  north  flank. 

25.  Haines  township. 

This  township  is  a  trapezium-shaped  area,  bounded  north 
by  the  Brush  mountain  and  south  by  Paddy's  mountain'. 
Union  county  forms  its  eastern  border  line,  with  Penn 
township  completing  the  figure  on  the  west. 

Brush  Mountain  Synclinal.  The  main  central  keel  of 
Big  mountain  has  just  been  described  in  Miles  township  to 
the  north. 

The  south  terrace  of  Painter  mountain  shows  dips  of  60°- 
70°  N.  W.  on  a  broad  plateau  north  of  Aaronsburg,  north  of 
which  the  red  Medina  valley  is  somewhat  cultivated,  and 
shows  sandstone  close  to  the  Penn  line,  dipping  75°  N.  W. 

Immediately  south  of  this  point,  No.  IVOneida,  showing 
massive  gray  and  yellowish  sandstone  80'-100'  thick,  dips 
about  66°  N.  W.  200  yards  E.  S.  E.,  where  some  little  con- 
glomerate appears. 

The  lower  member  extends  to  H.  Mowery's,  where  it  is 
succeeded  south  by  a  mass  of  yellow  and  gray  loose  slate 
to  within  half  a  mile  of  Aaronsburg  cross-roads. 

The  Woodward  crossing,  5  miles  east,  shows  an  excellent 
exposure  of  the  middle  or  red  Medina  shale  and  sandstone 
close  to  the  springs,  dipping  N.  W.  60°. 

This  stream  is  a  feeder  of  Pine  creek,  and  makes  quite  a 
ravine  north  of  the  terrace  in  Painter's  hollow. 

From  the  stream  crossing  to  a  point  midway  to  G.  Fox's 


348  T.     KEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lXVILLIKRS. 

house,  IV  Oneida  occurs,  dipping  50°-60°  N.  W.?  and  then 
slates  of  III  to  the  private  lane  leading  into  Snyder's. 

This  geology  is  repeated  along  Penn  Creek  hollow,  the 
terrace  mountain  gradually  approaching  the  creek,  and 
even  flanking  it  on  the  north  for  a  couple  of  miles  east  of 
Big  Gap  run,  and  finally  returning  around  the  head  of  the 
creek  in  Union  county  to  flank  Stone  mountain. 

Perm's  Valley  anticlinal  issues  from  this  narrow  pass 
between  Brush  and  Short  mountains,  carrying  only  the  slates 
of  III  as  far  west  as  Hosterman's  saw-mill,  where  the  slate 
forks  to  swing  north  along  the  base  of  Painter  mountain,  and 
south  to  swing  around  the  synclinal  of  "  Round  Head  "  and 
pass  up  Penn's  Valley  narrows. 

This  axis  passes  just  south  of  Aaronsburg,  and  is  marked 
by  dips  of  60°  N.  W.  just  north  of  the  village  and  S.  E. 
35°~55°  on  the  road,  leading  south. 

On  the  pike  east  of  the  village,  No.  II  is  well  exposed 
along  the  road  for  40  feet  and  about  15'  thick,  slaty  and 
thin-bedded,  dipping  40°  south-east  at  A.  Weaver's  house. 

One  mile  east  at  the  lime-kiln,  the  dip  is  68°  N.  W.;  but 
the  axis  crosses  the  pike  just  east  of  here,  exhibiting  its 
south  limb  one  mile  west  of  the  church  in  a  dip  of  40°  south- 
east. 

The  axis  extends  almost  directly  east  from  here  to  Hoster- 
man's saw-mill  and  nowhere  lifts  1000'  of  measures  to  day- 
light. 

Short  Mountain  synclinal,  called  sometimes  Stone  mount- 
ain, lies  between  Pine  Creek  Hollow  and  Penn's  Valley 
narrows,  and  shows  a  triple  mountain  in  this  township. 

Its  upper  white  Medina  mountain  enters  from  Union 
county  as  a  double  synclinal,  forked  by  a  small  stream  ; 
but  the  two  ridges  have  not  spread  far  enough  apart  to  ad- 
mit any  Clinton  No.  V,  as  they  do  further  east.  The  two 
opposing  ribs  approach  each  other  rapidly  westward  and 
join  about  2  miles  west  of  the  Union  line  in  a  high  spur  be- 
tween branches  of  Whitmer's  run,  known  as  "  Hind  Knob." 

The  middle  red  Medina  member  occurs  on  either  side  of 
this  central  ridge  in  a  regular  synclinal  valley,  shoaling 
westward  towards  Round  Head,"  formed  by  the  junction 


25.    HAINES  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  349 

of  the  two  terrace  mountains  about  2%  miles  west  of  Hind 
knob. 

The  dips  in  this  synclinal  are  about  40°  S.  E.  and  60°-70° 
N.  W.,  both  in  the  Oneida  member. 

Extending  well  up  the  knob,  and  encircling  it  on  all  sides, 
are  the  No.  Ill  slates,  which,  west  of  the  knob  along  Pine 
creek,  cover  a  belt  of  country  1^  miles  wide,  but  contract 
rapidly  westward  to  a  mere  nose  N.  E.  of  the  school-house 
on  the  pike. 

At  Rhinehart's,  about  1  mile  N.  W.  of  Woodward,  the 
dip  is  70°  N.  W.  The  two  limestone  valleys  on  either  side 
of  it  make  a  perfect  W.  with  the  slates  filling  in  the  central 
loop. 

The  Pine  Creek  anticlinal  enters  through  the  narrow 
valley  south  of  Short  mountain,  passes  through  Woodward, 
and  rising  and  bending  northward  passes  into  Penn  about 
\  mile  north  of  the  creek. 

Pine  creek  carries  only  slate  ns  far  as  Motz's  saw-mill,  but 
west  to  Stover's  saw-mill  it  carries  No.  II,  forming  the  divide 
between  II  and  III  as  far  as  Reed's. 

From  here  to  the  Penn  line,  limestone  swings  south  of  the 
stream  and  the  Coburn  road. 

Above  the  mill  in  Woodward  on  the  pike,  No.  II  dips  N. 
W.  35°-50°.  Pine  creek  sinks  ^  mile  west  in  a  cave  or  sink 
hole. 

West  of  Hubler's  run  a  Trenton  limestone  ridge  flanks 
the  creek  on  the  north,  frequently  exposing  wide  plates  on 
the  south  side,  with  dips  of  45°  south-east. 

Just  beyond  Beaver's  place,  where  the  ridge  begins  to 
fall  away,  one  of  these  exposures  lays  bare  No.  II  for  100 
feet  along  creek,  dipping  S.  E.  50°,  and,  rising  30'  up  flank. 
West  of  Reed's  mill,  the  dip  is  S.  22°,  E.  46°, where  the  lime- 
stone has  been  slightly  quarried. 

Just  north  of  the  bridge  over  Pine  creek,  Trenton  lime- 
stone shows  in  many  places  in  the  road,  dipping  about  20° 
N.  AY.,  and  making  the  north  leg  of  the  arch.  The  dip 
continues  in  a  series  of  exposures  for  100  yards  along  the 
road. 

The  svnclinal  between  these  two  axes  passes  north  of  A. 


350  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVlLLIERS. 

Bartges'  house,  where  No.  II  dips  N.  W.  70°  in  the  north 
leg  of  the  Pine  creek  anticlinal.  South  of  his  house  100 
yards  is  the  arch  of  this  more  compressed  axis,  showing 
south  dips  of  60°,  and  50°  at  Benin's  cross  roads,  and  even 
55°  at  the  base  of  the  mountains. 

Seven  Mountains.  The  only  good  sections  of  this  re- 
gion are  by  the  road  to  Fowler's  station  and  along  the  rail- 
road. 

The  public  road  carries  limestone  on  a  south  dip  of  55°  to 
a  pond  50  yards  south  of  the  bend  up  into  the  mountain, 
meeting  the  slate  of  III  at  that  point,  and  Oneida  IV  about 
half  way  up  the  flank.  The  latter  extends  to  the  crest  at  550' 
above  creek,  with  dips  of  S.  E.  54°,  carrying  some  conglom- 
erate of  rounded  gray  quartz  pebbles  with  a  reddish  tinge. 
The  road  descends  south  into  a  red  shale  valley  of  lower 
Medina.  The  synclinal  of  this  valley  lies  north  of  S. 
Stover's,  for  there  the  dips  are  to  the  north-west  50°-58°. 
No.  IV  Oneida  succeeds  south  at  the  stream  crossing  with  the 
same  characteristics,  and  breached  by  a  branch  of  Swift  run, 
through  which  the  supporting  slates  of  III  are  seen  dipping 
N.  W.,  but  soon  arching  over  the  anticlinal  of  this  valley 
to  dip  S.  E  along  Swift  run.  This  is  in  the  "Lechathal  " 
or  Lick  valley,  4  miles  long,  through  which  the  L.  &  T.  R. 
R.  runs,  carrying  slate  as  far  as  Fowler's  station,  and  sue 
ceeded  by  IV  Oneida. 

This  south  barrier  is  a  tightly-compressed  synclinal,  be- 
tween this  valley  and  the  eastern  end  of  Poe  Valley  anti 
clinal  to  the  south,  which  barely  crosses  Penn's  creek. 
Oneida  sandstone  encircles  it  and  forms  the  south-east-dip 
ping  terrace  to  Paddy's  mountain,  which  latter  makes  the 
county  line. 

The  L.  &  T.  R.  R.  passes  through  a  tunnel  in  this  white 
Medina  crest.  Like  the  Beaver  Dam  hill  to  the  north,  this 
ridge  is  also  pierced  where  it  is  only  about  80'  above  the 
stream,  which  has  made  a  wide  detour  westward  before 
cutting  through  the  hill  where  re  inforcedby  Poe  creek. 

The  synclinal  is  evidently  just  south  of  the  tunnel,  for  50' 
from  south  face  white  Medina  dips  N.  8°,  W.  54°,  and  S. 
12°,  E.  88°,  in  the  tightly  folded  basin. 


25.    HAINES  TOWNSHIP.  T4.  351 

It  shows  about  25'  of  sandstone  and  2'  of  slate  in  the 
north  leg  to  the  tunnel  mouth.  In  the  tunnel,  there  is 
about  170'  additional,  and  100'  more  of  mixed  red  shale  and 
sandstone  brings  us  to  the  north  end  of  the  tunnel,  where 
there  is  a  dip  of  S.  30°,  E.  75°. 

Red  rocks  show  for  120' more  to  the  end  of  the  tunnel 
approach. 

About  200  yards  north  of  the  bridge  over  Penn's  creek, 
red  Medina  presents  an  excellent  exposure  of  red  shale  and 
sandstone  probably  250'  thick,  dipping  S.  28°,  E.  60°,  form- 
ing the  south  leg  of  the  Poe  Valley  anticlinal. 

Oneida  sandstone  comes  in  north  at  the  new  steam  saw- 
mill, dipping  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek  S.  30°,  E.  62°, 
conglomeritic. 

Near  the  33d-mile,  post  slate  shows  a  rather  distorted  anti- 
clinal arch  about  200  yards  north,  with  dips  of  N.  28°,  W. 
60°,  and  S.  30°,  E.  60°,  though  curved  and  cross-bedded  by 
cleavage  planes,  rendering  dips  indistinct,  in  black  slate. 

The  gap  is  an  exceedingly  beautiful  one,  and  is  still  very 
wild  and  unbroken  bv  cultivation. 


APPENDIX  A. 


Extracts  from  J.  P.  Lesley"  s  Report  to  Lyon,  Short  &  Co. 
on  the  Iron  Ores  of  Warrior's  Mark  and  Spruce  Creek 
Valley  in  1873. 

The  following  extracts  relate  only  to  mines  situated  in 
in  Centre  county,  as  follows  : 

No.  10.  Lovetown. 

No.  11.  Ly tie's. 

No.  12.  McKinney's. 

No.  13.  Hannah  furnace,  No.  2. 

No.  14.  Bull's. 

No.  15.  Pond,  No.  4. 

No.  16.  Red. 

No.  17.  California. 

No.  18.  Reider's. 

No.  19.  WhorelPs. 

No.  29.  Pennsylvania. 

Except  two  situated  just  over  the  Huntingdon  county 
line,  viz : 

No.  27.  Kerr  &  Bredon. 

No.  28.  Hostler's. 

The  page  plate  map  given  on  p.  355  is  a  reduction  of  the 
eastern  end  of  the  reduced  topographical  sketch  map  which 
accompanied  the  published  report.  The  whole  map  will  be 
given  in  a  forthcoming  report  (T3)  on  Huntingdon  county 
to  illustrate  extracts  respecting  the  mines  of  that  county. 

The  numbers  on  the  little  map  will  be  found  in  the  key- 
23  T4.  C363  T40 


354  T.  j.  P.  LESLEY.     1873 

table  at  its  lower  margin,  with  the  names  of  the  ore  banks 
which  they  designate. 

References  to  my  report  made  by  Mr.  D'Invilliers  in  his- 
report  can  be  found  by  consulting  the  index  to  this  volume 
for  the  names  of  the  ore  banks  to  which  my  notes  refer. 

No  10.  The  Lovetown  Banks  consist  of  numerous  open- 
cuts  and  shafts  from  which  large  quantities  of  ore  have  been 
extracted  and  extensive  preparations  are  in  progress  for 
regular  mining  of  this  important  part  of  the  ore  field.  The 
principal  outcrop  occupies  a  vale  watered  by  a  small  branch 
of  Half-Moon.  The  old  shafts  of  Abram  Love  were  stopped 
by  the  influx  of  water.  Pipe  ore  is  visible  near  Love's  barn. 
Half  a  mile  west  is  an  old  "  exhausted  "  Hannah  Furnace 
bank.  On  the  north  slope  of  the  ridge  west  of  Love's,  ponds 
and  sink-holes  abound.  Hannah  Furnace  had  a  bank  in  Da- 
vid Berk's  fields,  and  abandoned  a  good  depositof  ore  in  its- 
floor,  merely  on  account  of  water.  Surrounding  shafts 
were  also  sunk,  but  no  pumps  were  ever  planted.  A  few 
hundred  yards  west  of  the  open-cut  some  of  these  shafts 
went  through  a  pretty  good  "  top  vein  "  into  a  regular  de- 
posit 20  feet  beneath  the  surface.  South-west  of  this,  other 
shafts  were  sunk  for  the  Milesburg  Company,  in  Abed  Ste- 
vens' fields,  in  good  rich,  sandy,  black  ore,  close  un- 
der the  sod,  the  poorer  clay  ores  lying  down  on  the  lime- 
stone foot  of  the  hill.  South  of  this,  John  Stine  gathered 
much  loose,  heavy  ore  from  his  fields,  and  hauled  it  to  Bald 
Eagle  furnace,  many  years  ago  ;  but  no  sinkings  were  done. 
The  outcrop  is  noticeable  in  Jos.  Bronstetter' s  lane  (lead- 
ing to  Wrye  bank)  and  in  his  fields  on  Cronister's  line. 

The  Lovetown  banks  are  shown  on  Local  Map,  Fig.  20, 
occupying  two  vales,  descending  eastward  to  the  Half 
Moon  run,  at  the  mill-dam. 

A  rib  of  solid  blue  limestone  strata,  dipping  S.  38°  E. 
>56°  to  57°,  forms  a  low  hill,  np  the  south  slope  of  which 
the  wash-ore  rides  on  to  the  flat  summit.  Natural  ponds- 
occupy,  at  points,  the  beds  of  the  two  vales. 

The  north  line  of  the  Love  property  commences  near  the- 
Beck  banks,  and  runs  down  the  northern  vale  to  the  cor- 
ner of  the  mill-dam.  The  ore  has  been  open-cut  at  Station 


Plate  XIV. 


T.  355 


356  T4.  J.  P.  LESLF.Y.     1873. 

17,  165  yards  west  of  where  this  line  crosses  the  road.  This 
once  deeper  old  cut  is  now  only  ten  feet  deep,  showing  in 
its  walls  liver-colored,  somewhat  lean  wash-ore.  West,  of 
it  is  a  series  of  shafts  for  450  yards,  formerly  sunk  60  or  80 
feet  (without  timbering)  until  water  was  reached,  and  after 
a  little  side-drifting,  abandoned.  Hannah  furnace  ran  for 
some  time  entirely  on  the  ore  got  in  this  primitive  fashion 
from  these  holes.  In  one  of  them  (St.  39)  pipe  ore  was 
found.  Nothing  more  is  known  of  them.  They  are  evi- 
dently on  a  continuation  of  the  Beck  bank  deposit,  the  re- 
sult of  decomposition  of  ore-bearing  strata  underlying  the 
rib  of  blue  limestone  at  Station  56. 

The  rest  of  the  ore  on  the  property  belongs  to  the  series 
of  rocks  above  the  blue  limestone,  and  to  the  southern  vale. 

The  first  shafts  are  sunk  near  Love's  house.  Shaft  A 
struck  ore  at  35  feet ;  B,  pipe-ore  at  35  feet.  Ore  has  re- 
cently been  found  south-east  of  A,  on  the  foot  of  the  oppo- 
site hill. 

From  Station  44  there  extends  east  and  south-east  down 
across  the  bottom  of  the  vale,  and  west  and  south-west 
along  the  hill-slopes  and  hill- top,  a  universal  surface  de- 
posit of  wash-ore.  In  this  area  are  numerous  old  shafts, 
pits,  and  open-cuts,  and  some  new  shafts  sunk  this  sum- 
mer and  fall.  The  old  works  were  always  abandoned  on 
striking  water  at  various  depths  down  to  80  feet,  and  are 
now  filled  up  and  no  records  preserved.  Much  ore  was 
certainly  mined  from  them. 

The  new  shafts  show  that  from  8  to  15  feet  of  wash-ore 
in  clay  underlies  the  surface  at  the  depth  of  a  few  feet,  and 
that  under  the  yellow  and  white  clays  there  lie  separate 
deposits  of  ore-lumps,  the  geographical  intervals  being 
barren.  There  seems  to  be  no  regularity  of  the  ore  layers. 

The  old  shaft  at  Station  48  is  said  to  have  passed  through 
twelve  feet  of  surface  wash,  then  (ore-bearing  ?)  clays  to  a 
depth  of  80  feet,  into  lump-ore,  which  was  mined  for  sev- 
eral feet,  and  left  in  the  bottom  when  water  stopped  the 
works.  The  new  shaft,  only  ten  yards  south-west  of  the 
old  shaft,  is  down  80  feet,  and  found  no  ore  in  the  clays. 
The  ore  got  seems  rich  and  rounded,  as  if  water-worn. 


358  T.  j.  P.  LESLEY.     1873. 

It  may  be  safe  to  give  twelve  feet  of  wash-ore  to  the 
whole  area,  under  which  are  hard  ores,  yielding  sometimes 
richly  and  sometimes  nothing. 

The  surface  ore  extends  850  yards  along  the  top  of  the 
hill.  Most  of  the  pits  were  shallow,  but  one  at  Station  59 
is  said  to  have  been  115  feet  deep  through  wash  and  lump- 
ore,  with  ore  left  in  the  bottom. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  deposit  is  the  same  as  at 
the  Dry  Hollow  and  Wrye  Banks.  No  regularly  inter- 
stratified  ore  is  noticeable.  No  estimate  of  quantity  can  be 
relied  on.  Taking  only  the  area  of  heavy  surface  show, 
and  calling  it  850x300  yards,  and  the  depth  twelve  feet, 
we  have  1,020,000  cubic  yards  of  seemingly  good  wash 
stuff,  which,  at  3  cubic  yards  to  the  ton,  gives  340,000  tons. 

To  this  must  be  added  the  very  uncertain  quantities  here 
and  there  scattered  through  the  under  clays.  As  these 
have  been  sometimes  locally  considerable,  it  is  possible  that 
one  or  two  or  even  three  hundred  thousand  may  thus  be 
obtained.  As  the  principal  part  of  the  lump-ore  is  evi- 
dently at  the  bottom  of  the  clays,  no  knowledge  of  the 
quantity  can  be  got  until  systematic  mining  reveals  the 
truth. 

Wash-ore  ground  here  must  be  considered  as  the  main 
reliance  for  the  present.  Washing  here  is  easy  ;  abundance 
of  water  is  struck  at  50  or  60  feet,  and  there  is  plenty  of 
room  for  settling  dams.  The  railroad  line,  adopted  for  a 
branch  to  the  main  railroad,  rises  one  mile  on  a  92  feet 
gradient,  and  descends  one  mile  on  a  46  feet  gradient. 

The  ore  has  a  much  more  extensive  range  than  that  above 
described,  for  Mr.  Fisher  has  opened  three  small  pits  on 
ore  just  beyond  the  north-eastern  property  line ;  and  the 
Beck  Banks  show  that  it  passes  south-westward  into  the 
adjoining  properties  in  that  direction  also. 

An  analysis  of  Lovetown  ore,  from  the  large  pit  at  Station 
49,  Fig.  20,  made  at  my  instance  by  Mr.  Persif or  Frazer,  Jr., 
Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
shows  a  percentage  of  phosphorus  low  enough  to  bring  this 
ore  within  the  limits  of  safe  use  in  the  manufacture  of  iron 
for  the  Bessemer  process.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  speci- 


LOVETOWN  BANKS. 


T.  359 


mens  was  3.52.  The  calculated  percentage  of  metallic  iron 
was  45.36  ;  alumina,  16.53  ;  silica  6.63  ;  lime,  0.58  ;  sulphur, 
0.04  ;  and  phosphoric  acid,  0.05. 

Between  Lovetown  and  Stormstown  ( a  distance  of  3^ 
miles)  no  ore  is  visible  near  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  although 
considerable  quantities  of  ore  lie  in  the  helds  just  north- 
east of  Lovetown;  but  on  a  line  parallel  with  the  mountain, 
and  about  a  mile  from  its  base,  in  a  hollow  leading  from  one 
branch  to  the  other  of  Half  Moon  run,  a  very  tine  outcrop 

FIGS.  21,  22.  FIGS.  23,  24. 


range  of  tolerably  big  pieces  of  ore,  closely  covering  the  sur- 
face, runs  past  the  saw-mill.  It  leads  directly  to  the  two 
Bryan  banks,  and  is  therefore  important, 

No.  11.  Ly tie's  Bank;  No.  12.  McKinney1  s  Bank.  These 
are  the  old  Bryan  banks,  2*  miles  K  E.  of  Lovetown,  as 
shown  at  the  eastern  limit  of  the  large  map,  and  in  local 
map,  Fig.  22. 


360  T.  J.  P.  LESLEY.     1873. 

The  Lytle  bank  was  worked  a  long  time  ago  for  Hannah 
furnace,  and  measures  about  70  x  20x10=  14,000  cubic 
yards.  Very  little  lump  ore  is  now  visible,  the  walls  show- 
ing about  25  feet  thickness  of  wash  ore. 

McKinney ' s  bank,  worked  for  Pennsylvania  furnace,  is 
much  smaller,  say  25  x  20  x  10  =  5000  cubic  yards,  and  ex- 
hibits the  same  aspect. 

Shafts  sunk  between  the  two  excavations  on  both  sides 
of  the  road,  leading  south  from  Stormstown  to  Gatesburg 
and  Pennsylvania  furnace,  always  struck  good  ore,  dipping 
to  the  south-east ;  as  do  the  limestone  outcrops  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. We  have  here  a  prism  of  ore  deposit  at  least 
350  x  100  x  10  =  350,000  cubic  yards  in  size  ;  probably,  after 
all  due  allowances,  quite  that  many  tons  of  ore. 

The  Curtin  bank,  a  long,  narrow  open -cut  on  a  prolonga- 
tion of  this  outcrop,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  map,  2|  miles 
N.  E.  of  the  McKinney  and  the  Lamborne  bank,  If  miles 
further  in  the  same  direction,  have  yielded  cold-short  ores, 
similar  in  appearance  to  the  Pennington.  These  and  other 
works  of  less  importance  show  the  persistent  straightness 
of  the  outcrop  of  the  ore-carrying  strata,  parallel  with  the 
Bald  Eagle  mountain,  at  the  foot  of  which  flows  the  east  or 
main  branch  of  Half  Moon  run,  with  a  limestone  ridge  *  be- 
tween the  valley  of  the  run  and  the  ore. 

At  McKinney  bank  we  are  3  miles  from  the  railway,  where 
it  strikes  and  begins  to  descend  Half  Moon  run.  The  Love- 
town  banks  require  a  railway  2  miles  long,  descending  the 
west  branch  of  Half  Moon,  with  a  grade  of  40  feet  to  the 
mile,  or  else  a  railway  across  the  ridge  If  miles  long,  with 
gradients  90  feet  to  the  mile,  as  described.  The  line  of  the 
road  was  originally  located  to  Love  town,  and  thence  down 
Half  Moon ;  but  it  was  considered  more  desirable  to  carry 
it  across  the  dry  hollow,  among  the  ore  banks  to  be  here- 
after mentioned. 

*  This  ridge,  by  an  oversight,  is  not  represented  on  the  map,  no  surveying 
having  been  done  north  of  the  McKinney  banks. 


NITTANY  VALLEY  ORES. 


T.  361 


Before  returning  to  these  banks  and  the  neighborhood  of 
the  railway  I  will  describe  a  group  of  banks  lying  south  of 
the  Lytle  and  McKinney  banks,  at  the  east  edge  of  the  map, 
and  on  outcrops  somewhat  higher  in  the  series. 


FIG.  25. 


No.  13.  Hannah  Furnace  bank  No.  2.  Two  hundred 
yards  east  of  the  Gatesburg  road  is  a  hole  40  x  20  X  10  = 
8000  cubic  yards  in  size,  excavated  on  the  broad,  flat  top  of 
a  ridge,  as  shown  in  local  map,  Fig.  25.  It  was  long  ago 
abandoned.  The  ore  seems  good  and  abundant,  15  to  20 
feet  of  wash  ore  showing  in  the  side  walls  and  coming  close 
to  the  surface.  All  the  down-slid  stuff  may  be  washed. 


J.    P.    LESLEY.       1873. 

Massive  sandy  limestones,  180  yards  N.  W.  of  it,  dip  S.  30° 
E.  >  28  ;  150  yards  further  N.  W.  massive  white  sand  rocks 
dip  the  same. 

No.  H.  Bull  banks,  half  a  mile  east  of  the  last,  and  in 
line  with  it,  consist  of  two  excavations  on  the  south  brow 
of  the  ridge  ;  see  A  and  B,  local  map,  Fig.  27.  Much  sandy 
ore  was  formerly  taken  out  before  these  banks  were  aban- 
doned, twenty  years  ago.  A  =60  x  50  x  10  =  30,000,  and 
B  =  80  x  40  x  10  =  32,000  cubic  yards.  A  shows  wash  ore 
in  the  side,  which  is  30  feet  high  above  the  water  in  the 
bottom.  B  shows  about  30  feet  of  reddish  wash  ore,  with 
very  little  lump  ore,  from  the  water  to  the  surface  of  the 
hill.  A  neighbor  who  had  worked  in  the  pits  reports  that 
several  feet  of  deep  brown  richer  ore  was  found  lying  every- 
where in  both  banks  beneath  the  mass  of  reddish  leaner  ore. 
All  this  awaits  the  time  of  improved  mining  with  pumps 
and  washers. 

Fig.  27  shows  other  old  workings  in  the  same  deposit  from 
600  to  800  yards  to  the  south-west  of  A  and  B.  From  two 
of  these  there  have  been  taken  about  15,000  cubic  yards  of 
wash  ore,  which  still  exhibits  itself  20  feet  deep  in  the  walls  ; 
the  one  furthest  to  the  north-west,  in  Fig.  27,  has  been  deep, 
say  40  feet,  but  now,  like  all  the  larger  cuts,  has  standing 
water  and  mud  in  its  bottom.  Numerous  shafts,  all  yield- 
ing ore,  give  us  data  for  calculating  an  ore  prism,  in  sight, 
of  say  150  x  200  x  10? •  =  300,000  cubic  yards. 

No.  15,  Pond  bank,  No.  1,  worked  for  Pennsylvania  fur- 
nace, lies  in  the  hollow  at  the  foot  of  the  ridge,  f  mile  south 
of  the  Bull  bank,  see  local  map,  Fig.  20.  Its  honey-combed, 
rather  light,  easy-smelting  ore,  (mixing  well  with  the  more 
sandy  ores  of  Bull  Bank  hill,)  dips  also  south-east,  and 
therefore  belongs  to  a  limestone  outcrop  still  higher  in  the 
series,  which  is  sufficient  to  account  for  its  different  qual- 
ity. A  great  deal  has  been  removed  from  this  bank,  but 
much  still  remains  to  be  won,  and  water  to  wash  it  is  abun- 
dant. This  is  included  in  the  prism  of  ore  calculated  last 
above. 


PENN.  FURNACE  BANK.  T4.  363 

No.  16,  Red  bank,  (Floyd's  old  bank,)  at  the  roadside, 
half  a  mile  south-west  of  the  Pond  bank,  (see  local  map, 
Fig.  25,)  is  a  cut  in  the  same  outcrop.  The  amount  of  ore  is 
therefore  very  great,  for  the  continuity  of  the  deposits  has 
been  clearly  proven.  The  red  rock  ore  (35  or  40  per  cent.) 
descends  in  a  solid  stratum  from  8  to  10  feet  thick,  at  a  dip 
of  about  25°  to  the  S.  E.  Over  this  lies  a  stratum  of  white 
clay,  3  feet  thick.  Over  this  black  ore  in  solid  masses  and 
great  lumps  scattered  thickly  or  thinly  through  several 
yards  of  wash  ore,  to  the  surface.  Some  of  these  lumps  are 
2  feet  long  by  1  £  feet  thick. 

This  Old  Oatesburg  bank,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  was 
worked  40  years  ago,  and  has  been  re-opened  now  to  show 
its  character. 

The  red  ore  was  too  siliceous  and  hard  to  work  in  the 
small  cold-blast  charcoal  furnaces  of  the  region  ;  but  it  will 
be  eagerly  sought  by  modern  hot-blast  coke  or  anthracite 
furnaces. 

The  black  ore  masses  were  selected  for  charcoal  cold-blast 
use,  having  50  to  55  per  cent,  of  iron  and  being  fusible  ore. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  how  deep  these  strata  descend  on 
their  25°  dip  in  a  peroxide  condition.  But  allowing  only 
100  feet,  we  have  in  a  mile  of  outcrop  150,000  cubic  yards 
of  red  rock  ore;  and  as  the  wash-ore  ground  holding  the 
black  lump  ore  descends  with  it,  and  spreads  over  a  belt  of 
surface  more  than  100  yards  wide,  there  must  be  half  a 
million  cubic  yards  of  it  at  the  lowest  computation.* 

The  old  cuts  at  the  elbow  of  the  road  west  of  the  two 
ponds  in  Fig.  27  have  had  about  8000  cubic  yards  excavated, 
and  are  now  filled  with  water  to  within  10  feet  of  the  sur- 
face, showing  that  much  wash  ore  without  lumps.  The 

*I  have  described  above  only  what  I  saw.  Mr.  Platt  was  informed  that 
under  12  feet  of  clay  holding  black  lump  ore  lay  4  feet  of  white  clay  without 
ore,  under  which  lay  14  feet  of  red  rock  ore  in  red  clay,  and  ore  was  still 
under  foot.  I  give  this  report  for  what  it  is  worth. 

Mr.  Booking  speaks  of  red  rock  ore  only  6  feet  thick,  "and  another  fair 
layer  in  the  clays  above,  all  workable  ;  red  ore  not  very  rich;  siliceous,  but 
with  visible  sand;  rich  black  ore  in  the  top  vein,  [the  word  he  always  uses 
for  a  stratum  of  ore]  on  the  whole  proper  for  coke  furnace  use;  mining  re- 
quiring pumps;  deep  workings  at  hand;  an  important  locality." 


364  T4 


J.    P.    LESLEY.      1873. 


two  larger  cuts  (150  yards  north-west  of  them)  measure  about 
15,000  cubic  yards,  with  21  to  25  feet  of  wash  and  lump  ore 
in  the  walls.  Abandoned  20  years  ago. 


FIG.  26. 


FIG.  27. 


No.  17.  California  bank,  200  yards  west  of  the  Red  bank, 
and  on  the  same  slope  and  outcrop  (see  Local  Map,  Fig. 
25,)  received  its  name  from  the  richness  of  its  ore,  before  it 
was  abandoned  20  or  25  years  ago,  on  account  of  its  dis- 


PENN.  FURNACE  BANK.  T4.  365 

tance  from  Pennsylvania  furnace,  the  abundance  of  water 
and  lack  of  pumping  apparatus,  the  refractory  quality  of 
its  mineral  in  the  cold-blast  charcoal  stack,  and  especially 
the  abundance  of  good  ore  at  the  furnace  itself.  Pits  of 
standing  water  show  20  feet  of  wash  ore  in  their  walls. 

This  completes  my  sketch  of  this  "dry  hollow"  outcrop 
east  of  Half  Moon  Run.  It  is  a  dry  hollow  because  the 
whole  limestone  underground  is  cavernous,  and  water 
springs  up  abundantly  in  every  excavation,  but  does  not 
flow  over  the  surface.  This  is  a  prime  factor  in  the  prob- 
lem of  the  genesis  of  these  ores,  and  must  be  taken  into 
consideration  in  all  speculations  respecting  the  depths  to 
which  the  brown  hematite  ores  descend  in  a  minable  form. 

The  outcrop  belt  of  surface  wash  ore  and  regular  rock 
ores  in  which  the  Hannah  Furnace,  Bull,  Pond,  Red,  and 
California  Banks  are  excavated,  passes  on  north-eastward 
into  the  untried  wilderness  of  the  Barrens,  where  we  find 
upon  it  the  Floyd  Baiik,  an  open  cut  on  highland;  ore  very 
sandy  for  charcoal  furnace  use,  but  good  and  abundant  for 
hot  blast  coke  or  anthracite  ;  and  good  charcoal  ore  could 
be  selected  from  it  still. 

No.  18.  fielder's  Bank,  half  mile  east  of  Gatesburg,  is  a 
small  surface  opening  of  30x20x5^=3000 .cubic  yards'  extent. 
On  trial  at  Centre  and  Hannah  furnaces  it  was  refused. 
The  surface  of  the  broad  low  hill  north  of  the  village  is  a 
sheet  of  wash  ore.  The  roads  north  to  Stormstown  and 
west  to  Warriors  Mark  expose  ore  ground  at  the  surface, 
on  the  slopes  of  the  dry  hollow  in  which  the  village  stands, 
and  to  the  north  and  south  of  the  village.  The  old  open- 
ing on  the  roadside  250  yards  south  of  the  village  is  entire- 
ly filled  up.  Considerable  quantities  of  very  rich  lump  ore 
were  taken  out  here  many  years  ago,  mostly  from  under- 
ground galleries.  Much  ore  ground  occupies  the  surface 
for  more  than  100  yards  north-eastward.  Limestone  crops 
out  300  yards  west  of  it  dipping  S.  30°  E.  >20°,  and  300 
yards  north  of  it  dipping  S.  30°  E.  >18°.* 

*  The  horizon  of  this  and  the  Whorell  bank  is  still  higher  in  the  series  than 
the  last,  as  section  C  D  (Fig.  3)  will  make  evident. 


366  T4. 


J.    P.    LESLEY.       1873. 


No.  19.  Whorrel  Bank,  (see  Local  Map,  Fig.  17,)  is  a 
continuation  south-west  across  Half  Moon  run  of  the  Gates- 
burg  outcrop,  which  is  here  nearly  500  jrards  broad.  The 
open  cut  on  the  north  side  of  the  Gatesburg  road  is  about 
40x13x5=2600  cubic  yards  ;  that  on  the  south  side  30x20 
x3=1800  cubic  yards.  Both  have  standing  water  in  the 
bottom,  and  wash  ore  in  the  walls,  while  very  heavy  out- 
crops appear  along  the  road,  as  well  as  along  the  cross  road 
leading  up  the  ridge  north  to  Lovetown,  beyond  which  an 
old  shaft  has  struck  the  underlying  sand  rocks. 

FIG.  34. 


sd 


PENN.   FURNACE  BANK. 


T4.   367 


The  double  excavation  in  Fig.  10,  110x40x7=30, 800  cubic 
yards  large,  is  separated  by  a  stratum  of  limestone  dipping 
S.  30°  E.,  >26°,  (one  exposure  looking  like  >50°,)  the  ore 
underlying,  overlying  and  surrounding  one  end  of  it.  The 
wash  ore  in  the  side  walls  does  not  look  rich.  It  is  reported 
these  holes  were  dry  40  feet  deep  and  yielded  good  ore. 
The  length  of  the  surface  show  i.  e.,  S.  W. — IS".  E.  is  only 
50  yards,  to  be  terminated  by  the  erosion  of  Half  Moon 
Creek  Valley.  The  railroad  is  only  400  yards  distant. 

FIG.  35. 


Sectitrn,  at  %M,  atdfaff 


The  Kerr  &  Bredin  bank*  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  south  slope 
of  Hickory  ridge,  one  mile  W.  N.  W.  of  the  Hostler  bank. 
In  a  dry  autumn  Mr.  Bocking  was  directed  to  sink  south  of 
the  old  cut,  and  to  mount  a  pump.  He  reported  a  12-inch 

*This  bank  and  the  Hostler  bank  are  across  the  line  in  Huntingdon  county 
but  I  give  my  notes  on  them  because  they  are  instructive ;  and  the  wood-cuts, 
Figs.  34,  35,  and  36,  show  the  lay  of  these  ores  in  the  ground. 


368  T4.  ,T.    P.    LESLEY.       1873. 

"vein  of  ore  "  at  40  feet,  and  water  at  44  feet.  A  tunnel- way 
was  commenced  in  the  direction  of  the  old  cut,  which  caved 
in,  and  the  works  were  stopped. 

The  continuation  of  these  ores  along  the  foot  of  Hickory 
ridge,  on  the  north  side  of  Cale  hollow,  is  proven  by  a  range 
of  "lively  outcroppings."  In  some  places  the  surface  is 
sufficiently  rich  wash  ore.  One  or  two  pits  (Bronstetter" s) 
were  worked,  for  Huntingdon  furnace,  H  miles  west  of  the 
Kerr  &  Bredin  bank,  in  "an  irregular  vein." 

North-eastward  the  ores  continue  to  show  themselves  to 
Half  Moon  run,  where  "pipe  ore"  is  marked  upon  the  large 
map.  See  Little  bank  below. 

From  a  small  cut  at  Eyer's,  on  the  east  side  of  Half  Moon 
run,  pipe  ore  was  raised  many  years  ago.  The  limestone 
rocks  at  Eyer's  house,  100  yards  south  of  the  spot,  dip  to 
the  S.  30°  E.  >  21°. 

Another  old  pipe  ore  locality  shows  now  fair  ore  on  the 
surface  near  two  small  trial  pits. 

No.  28.  Hostler  ~baiik,  (see  local  map,  Fig.  26,  and  wood- 
cut, Fig.  36). 

This  excavation  occupies  the  northern  slope  of  the  Spruce 
Creek  anticlinal  ridge  as  a  large  open  cut,  from  which  the 
ore  was  in  old  times  hauled  to  Pennsylvania  furnace  two 
miles  due  east  of  it. 

The  recorded  history  of  this  important  mine  reveals  the 
following  features  :  Wherever  the  diggings  were  made  they 
went  down  through  "pipe"  wash  ore,  which  was  occasion- 
ally mixed  with  lump  ore,  to  depths  of  60  and  65  feet  in  all 
the  shafts. 

One  of  these  shafts  passed  through  this  wash  ore  65  feet, 
and  then  passed  through  a  stratum  of  solid  lime  rock,  vary- 
ing in  thickness  from  10  inches  to  2  feet.  Below  this  lime- 
stone lay  lump  "pipe"  ore,  into  which  the  shaft  was  sunk 
6  feet  further  and  then  the  flow  of  water  stopped  its  further 
descent. 

From  the'bottom  of  the  shaft  a  five-inch  auger  hole  was 
drilled  through  a  continuous  bed  of  pipe  ore  to  an  additional 
depth  of  39  feet. 


PENN.  FURNACE  BANK. 
Fia.  36. 


T4.  369 


The  percentage  of  iron  in  the  pipe  ore  is  uniform,  or  varied 
•only  by  the  chemist  including  in  his  analysis  adherent  or 
inclosed  clay. 

It  is  a  constant  feature  of  the  pipe  ore  banks  of  the  south- 
ern range  that  they  do  not  furnish  the  "lean  ores,"  so-called, 
which  are  met  with  in  the  banks  opened  along  the  more 
northerly  and  geologically  lower  outcrops  of  the  "Barrens  " 
in  this  valley.  It  has  been  the  uniform  experience  at  the 
Pennsylvania,  Hostler,  and  other  pipe  ore  banks  that  shafts 
and  borings  have  always  passed  through  lump  ore  after 
having  been  sunk  or  drilled  below  water  level.  But  as 
pumping  apparatus  on  a  sufficient  scale  has  never  been  ap- 
plied to  such  deep  shafts  and  borings,  they  have  in  no  case 
passed  through  the  deposit  of  lump  ore,  the  thickness  of 
which  is,  therefore,  still  a  matter  of  conjecture. 

I  give  the  history  of  these  operations  as  an  evidence  of 
the  insufficient  extent  to  which  the  development  of  this 
iron  ore  district  has  been  carried  ;  to  show  that  only  its 
surface  has  been  scratched,  but  its  deposits  not  mined. 
Regular,  systematic,  efficient  operations  are  yet  to  be  be- 
gun. They  await  the  completion  of  the  railroad  and  that  de- 
mand for  large  quantities  of  ore  from  distant  furnaces 
which  is  already  become  so  urgent.  The  underground 
drainage  all  through  the  valley  is  immense,  and  the  largest 
24  TV 


370  T4.  j.  p.  LESLEY.     1873. 

bodies  of  ore,  and  especially  of  pipe  ore,  can  only  be  won 
with  heavy  pumping  and  systematic  stoping. 

The  Hostler  open-cut  bank  must  be  sunk  in  air  to  the- 
lower  ores,  and  through  them  to  the  bottom  floor  of  all ; 
then  with  powerful  pumps  to  keep  the  water  down,  the 
clay  stripping  above  can  be  washed,  and  the  heavy  face  of 
ore  below  can  be  stoped  and  the  top  stuff  thrown  back  into 
the  abandoned  ground  as  the  ore  face  advances.  As  Mr. 
Bracking  justly  remarks,  "35  feet  of  ore  will  pay  well  for 
stripping  65  to  75  feet"  of  clays  above  it.  He  adds,  and  I 
agree  with  him  heartily:  "The  time  for  shallow  digging 
and  ground-hogging  is  pretty  well  past  in  these  barrens, 
and  the  exploration  of  the  richer  banks  may  require  in 
future  preparations  that  will  take  some  capital,  and  may 
need,  in  some  cases,  two  or  more  years  before  yielding  a 
return." 

The  Hostler  bank  excavations  measure  120x50x10  =  60, 
000  cubic  yards.  The  ore  lies  (like  that  to  be  described  in 
Pennsylvania  Furnace  banks)  as  a  mass  of  clay  and  wash 
ore  separated  by  ribs  of  undecomposed  limestone.  The 
walls  are  about  30  feet  high,  but  the  high  north-west  dip  of 
the  measures  prevents  this  figure  being  used  as  a  datum  of 
calculation.  It  only  shows,  in  a  general  way,  the  depth 
below  the  sod  to  which  the  weathering  action  had  gone,  a& 
exposed  by  the  miners.  The  late-sunk  shafts  passed  alter- 
nate soft  beds  of  ore  and  hard  ribs  of  limestone,  all  on  a 
steep  dip  ;  38°  to  the  N.,  35°  W.  In  a  shaft  at  the  north- 
west end  of  the  open  cut  one  shaft  went  down  through  75 
feet  of  wash-ore  ground  before  striking  the  solid  limestone 
rocks  and  water. 

It  is  impossible  from  such  data  to  estimate  the  future 
yield  at  this  locality ;  but  the  amount  of  ore  to  be  won 
must  be  very  great.  Nor  is  it  confined  to  the  neighbor 
hood  of  the  old  works.  The  ore  belt  runs  on  south-west- 
ward for  at  least  five  miles. 

At  the  distance  of  1900  feet  there  are  somewhat  less  than 
twenty  old  shafts  in  one  group,  quite  forgotten  until  re- 
cently discovered  by  Mr.  George  Lyon.  They  were  mostly 
shallow  pits  in  the  surface  of  the  pipe-ore-bearing  clays  ; 


PENN.  FURNACE  BANK.  T*.  371 

but  some  of  them  look  as  if  they  had  been  sunk  to  a  con- 
siderable depth  ;  and  their  number  proves  that  the  search 
for  ore  was  remunerative  even  at  that  day. 

This  part  of  Gale  hollow  is  a  wide,  flat,  slightly  undulat- 
ing, dry  vale,  every  part  of  which  shows  a  top  dressing  of 
tine  ore.  It  is  a  virgin  district.  Mr.  Lyon  sunk  one  trial 
shaft  in  it,  and  struck  an  "  ore  vein."  There  was  a  similar 
accidental  discovery  of  another  group  of  five  or  six  pits 
from  which  some  top  ore  had  been  scraped.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  a  continuous  belt  of  mining  ground  runs  the  en- 
tire length  of  Cale  hollow. 

The  Red  Bank,  If  miles  from  the  Hostler,  on  the  same 
slope  of  the  Spruce  creek  ridge,  is  old  and  disused,  the  ore 
in  the  top  clays  was  stripped,  but  no  attempt  at  deep  min- 
ing was  made.  Another  old  bank  in  line  with  it,  but  across 
a  little  ravine  issuing  from  the  ridge,  furnished  some  pipe 
ore  to  Huntingdon  furnace.  Still  further  west,*  in  a  simi- 
larly situated  bank,  near  Huntingdon  furnace,  a  vein  of 
good,  red-short  ore  was  struck,  and  abandoned  on  account 
of  water.  On  working  one  part  of  this  pit  the  ore  became 
too  sulphurous  to  use.  It  will  be  again  referred  to  after 
describing  bank  No.  29. 

The  belt  of  Cale  hollow  ores  maybe  traced  north-east- 
ward with  the  same  general  character. 

Little  bank,  for  instance,  lies  two  thirds  of  a  mile  north- 
east, (near  the  Warrior  Mark-Pennsylvania  furnace  road,) 
If  miles  west  of  Pennsylvania  furnace.  Here  very  rich  top 
washings  cover  a  high  flat  area  connected  with  Hickory 
ridge.  Seams  of  the  ore  penetrated  the  limestone  rocks  all 
the  way  down  a  40-feet  shaft,  under  which  the  main  body 
of  ore  dips  northward. 

The  Ever  bank  (already  mentioned)  is  an  old  excavation 
one  mile  still  further  east,  on  the  east  side  of  Half  Moon 
run. 

Going  on  north-eastward  across  a  dividing  ridge  the  ore 
appears  again  along  Tadpole  run,  in  Sleepy  hollow,  and  at 

*4*  miles  from  Hostler  bank. 


372  T4.  j.  P.  LESLEY.     1873. 

the  head  of  the  beaver  dams,  for  a  distance  of  more  than 
a  mile.  Years  ago  some  pipe  ore  was  raised  for  Centre 
furnace  east  of  B.  Crane's,  but  the  surface  was  merely 
scratched.  At  the  Pennsylvania  furnace  old  surface  pits, 
sunk  at  the  beaver  dams,  the  body  of  ore  probably  lies 
tinder  the  bed  of  the  run  and  would  require  heavy  pump- 
ing. 

The  dry  hollow  which  carries  the  valley  of  Tadpole  run 
runs  on  in  a  straight  line  north-eastward,  and  is  a  geological 
prolongation  of  Cale  hollow,  shows  plenty  of  outcroppings 
of  ore,  just  as  Cale  hollow  does,  and  the  ore  is  of  the  same 
kind, — pipe  ore.  In  fact,  the  ore  belt  continues  to  McAllis- 
ter's and  the  school-house  cross-roads,  eight  miles  north- 
east of  the  Hostler  bank,  and  far  beyond  the  limits  of  my 
large  map. 

Between  McAllister's  and  Pinegrove  mills  the  country 
spreads  out  into  a  plateau  two  or  three  miles  wide,  through 
which  runs  the  Brush  Valley  anticlinal.  Here,  far  beyond 
the  east  limit  of  my  map,  are  the 

Old  Weaver  banks — two  open  cuts  and  several  shafts  near 
them,  abandoned  years  ago.  No  systematic  mining  was  at- 
tempted in  that  early  day,  the  work  being  done  by  the 
farmers.  Tradition  speaks  of  "ore  veins"  being  reached, 
but  probably  too  well  watered  for  the  natives  to  cope  with 
them.  "The  ore  lying  around  the  holes  is  not  a  regular 
pipe  ore,  but  is  mixed  with  liver-colored  ore,  and  reported 
red-short."  We  have  here,  then,  ores  not  belonging  to  the 
Hostler  and  Pennsylvania  pipe  ore  bank  system  connected 
with  the  sandstones  of  the  anticlinal,  that  is,  ores  belonging 
to  the  underlying  limestones. 


No.  29,  Pennsylvania  Furnace  ore  bank.  For  about 
iifty-eight  (58)  years  Pennsylvania  furnace  has  been  sup- 
plied with  its  stock  from  the  extensive  excavations  on  the 
gently-sloping  south  side  of  the  anticlinal  ridge  facing  Tus- 
sey  mountain;  Spruce  creek,  above  the  furnace,  flowing  be- 
tween the  ridge  and  the  mountain. 

[See  local  map,   Fig.  37,  in  lieu  of  further  description  ; 


PENN.  FURNACE  BANK.  T4.  373 

and  the  landscape  sketches  of  the  excavations,  to  illustrate 
their  extent  and  character  :  Figs.  39,  40,41,  42,  43.] 

The  geologist  can  here  study  the  theory  of  the  formation 
of  the  Lower  Silurian  brown  hematite  ores  of  Pennsylva- 
nia to  great  advantage.  I  know  no  better  place,  and  few  so 
good. 

The  ores  are  evidently  not  washings  from  a  distance ; 
neither  from  Tussey  mountain,  nor  from  the  present  sur- 
face of  the  anticlinal  ridge  ;  nor  from  any  formerly  existing 
surface  in  past  geological  ages,  when  the  surface  stood  at  a 
much  higher  elevation  above  sea  level.  They  are  evidently 
and  visibly  interstratiiied  with  the  soft  clay  and  solid  lime- 
stone layers,  and  obey  the  strike  and  dip  of  the  country  ; 
the  strike  being  along  the  valley,  and  the  dip  about  40°  to- 
wards the  south-east. 

Thousands  of  minor  irregularities  prevail ;  the  streaks  of 
ore  and  masses  of  clay  are  wrinkled  arid  bunched,  and  thin 
oat  and  tllicken  again  in  various  directions.  But  all  this 
irregularity  is  owing  to  the  chemical  changes  of  the  strata, 
and  to  the  changes  in  bulk  of  the  different  layers,  during 
the  protracted  process  of  solution  and  dissolution,  during 
which  the  looser  calciferous  and  ferriferous  sandstone  lay- 
ers have  lost  their  lime  constituent,  packed  their  sand  and 
clay  more  solidly,  and  perhydrated  their  iron.  In  this  long 
process  cleavage  planes  have  been  widened  into  crevices  ; 
caverns  have  been  excavated  ;  pools  or  vats  have  been  cre- 
ated ;  precipitates  of  massive  (rock  and  pipe)  ore  have  been 
thrown  down  ;  and  a  general  creeping  and  wrinkling  of  the 
country  been  effected.  But  the  original  general  arrange- 
ment or  stratification  has  been  preserved;  and  those  por- 
tions of  the  whole  formation  which  had  but  little  lime 
have  been  left  standing  as  sandstone  strata  ;  while  others 
having  but  little  sand  remain  as  solid  and  massive  lime- 
stone strata  ;  those  which  had  an  excess  of  alumina  are  now 
in  the  condition  of  streaks,  masses,  or  layers  of  white  or 
mottled  clays  ;  and  only  such  as  were  properly  constituted 
clay-sand-lime-iron  deposits  (originally)  have  been  so  com- 
pletely dissolved  as  to  permit  the  lime  to  flow  off,  and  the 
iron  to  consolidate  into  ore. 


374  T.  J.  P.  LESLEY.     1878. 

Every  stage  of  this  interesting  operation,  and  every  phase 
which  it  presents  in  other  parts  of  the  Appalachian  belt  of 
the  United  States  from  Canada  to  Alabama  may  be  seen 
and  studied  in  these  old  and  extensive  ore  banks  of  Penn- 
sylvania Furnace. 

At  first  sight  of  the  bank  the  ore  deposit  looks  as  if  it 
were  a  grand  wash  or  swash  of  mingled  clay  and  fine  and 
coarse  ore  grains  and  balls,  occupying  hollows,  caverns  and 
crevices  in  the  surface  of  the  earth  and  between  the  solid 
limestone  rocks  ;  and  some  of  it  undoubtedly  has  been  thus 
carried  down  into  the  enlarged  cleavage  partings  of  the 
limestones  ;  and  into  sink-holes  and  caverns  formed  by 
water-courses ;  where  it  now  lies  (or  lay  when  excavated) 
banked  up  against  walls  or  faces  of  the  undecomposed  lime 
rocks.  But  as  a  whole  the  ore  streaks  and  "main  vein"  of 
ore  must  occupy  nearly  the  places  originally  occupied  by 
the  more  ferruginous  strata  after  they  had  got  their  dip  and 
strike.  See  Fig.  40. 

The  ore  is  taken  out  with  the  clay,  and  hauled  up  an  in- 
cline, by  means  of  a  stationary  steam  engine  at  its  head, 
and  dumped  into  a  large  washing  machine,  with  revolving 
screens  ;  whence  after  the  flints  and  sandstones  have  been 
picked  out,  it  is  carried  on  an  ironed  tram-waj7'  to  the  bridge 
house  of  the  furnace.  See  Fig.  42. 

The  ore  forms  from  10  to  50  per  cent,  of  the  mass  exca- 
vated, and  the  small  amount  of  handling  makes  the  ore 
cheap. 

The  floor  of  the  excavation  is  about  sixty  (60)  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  wash  machine. 

Shafts  sunk  from  30  to  35  feet  deeper  in  the  floor  to  a 
permanent  water  level,  have  shown  that  other  and  even 
better  ore  deposits  underlie  the  workings,  covered  by  the 
slanting  undecomposed  lime  rocks. 

This  is  an  additional  demonstration  of  the  correctness  of 
the  theory  above  stated. 

The  upper  ores  will  furnish  stock  for  yet  many  years. 
After  that,  or  in  case  more  furnaces  are  erected,  or  distant 
markets  call  for  the  shipment  of  ore  by  railway,  deep  shafts 
or  bore  holes  must  be  sunk  to  drain  the  underground,  and 


PENN.   FURNACE  BANK. 
FIG.  37. 


T4.  375 


376  T4. 


J.    P.    LESLEY.       1873. 


the  lower  ores  may  then  be  lifted  to  an  extent  which  can 
hardly  be  estimated  now. 

The  prism  of  ore  in  sight,  technically  speaking,  if  calcu- 
lated roughly  from  the  areas  exposed  by  the  old  and  new 
open  cuts,  and  by  shafts  sunk  at  various  times  and  in  va- 
rious parts  of  the  floor,  gives  several  millions  of  wash-ore, 
lump-ore  and  pipe  or  rock  ore.  Thus  taking  the  area  ex 
posed  at  say  550x450  yards,  and  the  depth  at  only  15  yards, 
we  have  3,612,500  cubic  yards,  which  on  washing  would 
yield  602,000  tons  of  prepared  ore. 

Of  this,  about  100,000  tons  have  been  passed  through  the 
furnace,  yielding  nearly  50,000  tons  of  neutral  cold  blast 
charcoal  iron  of  the  best  quality,  leaving  500, 000  tons  of  ore 
to  be  excavated. 

But  this  is  only  a  portion  of  the  deposit  ;  for  the  ore 
ranges  away  beyond  the  high  walls  of  the  open  cuts  into 
the  surrounding  land  an  unknown  distance.  The  large  area 
stripped  last  year  towards  the  north-east  shows  how  exten- 
sive the  deposit  is  in  that  direction. 

FIG.  38. 


Add  to  this  the  great  depths  to  which  the  ore  is  known  to- 
descend,  and  it  seems  to  me  certain  that  a  million  of  tons  is 
as  probable  an  estimate  as  a  half  a  million.  Large  quanti 
ties  of  ore  are  left  standing  between  the  hard  limestone 
ledges  exhibited  in  Fig.  40  (taken  from  a  in  local  map,  Fig. 
38,)  and  in  Fig.  34,  which  is  an  enlarged  view  of  the  sharp 
promontory  seen  in  Fig.  33,  sketched  to  show  its  geological 


PENN.  FURNACE  BAXK. 
FIGURE  39. 


T4.  377 


378  T.  j.  P.  LESLEY.     1873. 

structure.  The  dip  of  these  limestones  is  to  the  S.  35°,  E. 
>  35°  to  40°;  and  they  are  exactly  on  range  with  the  lime- 
stone outcrop  along  the  road,  at  the  quarry,  and  past  the 
furnace,  as  shown  in  Fig.  37.  Slight  crumplings  of  the 
limestone  vary  the  dip  from  18°  to  65°;  but  these  are  due 
•either  to  movements  in  the  yielding  ore  mass  or  to  a  decep- 
tion caused  by  mistaking  cleavage  planes  for  bed  plates. 
No  such  variations  are  apparent  at  a  distance  from  the 
banks,  the  whole  limestone  formation  descending  uniformly 
beneath  the  foot  of  Tussey  mountain  with  a  dip  of  some- 
thing under  40°. 

The  pictures  Figs.  41  and  42  are  views  of  the  deep  cut 
looking  east  from  a  in  local  map,  Fig.  37.  The  view  in 
Fig.  43  is  taken  looking  northward  into  the  main  ore  bank, 
from  near  a  ;  and  it  shows  the  new  incline,  the  washing 
house,  and  the  ridge  above  it,  along  the  crest  of  which  the 
aqueduct  is  carried  on  trestles  for  2000  feet.  Fig.  38  shows 
the  end  of  the  aqueduct,  where  it  is  mounted  by  the  pipe 
leading  up  the  hill-side  from  the  double  Worthington  pump 
in  the  engine-house,  fed  by  another  pipe  from  the  dam. 
Behind  the  hill  seen  in  Fig.  43,  in  a  hollow  on  a  level  with 
the  north  east  end  of  the  banks,  is  the  settling-dam. 

The  height  of  the  walls  of  the  various  excavations  may 
be  seen  by  reference  to  the  ten-foot  contour  lines  in  Fig.  37. 
These  also  show  that  the  ground  now  so  deeply  excavated 
once  formed  a  high  divide  between  a  vale  descending  south- 
west to  Spruce  Creek,  and  a  corresponding  but  shallower 
vale  descending  north-east  to  the  settling-dam  hollow.  It 
looks  as  if  the  ore  once  filled  both  these  vales,  but  has  been 
swept  away  by  the  natural  drainage  into  Spruce  Creek, 
from  the  one  which  descends  in  that  direction,  and,  perhaps, 
from  the  valley  of  Spruce  Creek  itself,  down  to  and  beyond 
the  Furnace. 

The  entire  walls  of  the  cuts  are  of  wash  ore,  and  it  is  all 
torn  down  and  taken  to  the  washing  machine.  But  the 
tops  of  pyramids  of  solid  pipe  ore  are  exposed  in  the  floor, 
and  some  reached  to,  or  nearly  to,  the  sod  above.  At  one 
of  the  deepest  places  in  the  floor,  60  feet  below  the  sod  a 
shaft  was  sunk  40  feet  further  through  solid  pipe  ore,  and 


PENN.   FURNACE  BANK.  T4.  379 

then  limestone,  and  was  stopped  by  water.  Water  does 
not  stand  in  the  present  floors,  on  account  of  the  free  circu- 
lation at  a  still  lower  depth  through  crevices  and  caverns 
communicating  with  Spruce  Creek,  which  itself  issues  from 
a  cave. 

The  books  at  the  Furnace  show  as  an  average  for  some 
years,  6  tons  of  wash  ore  to  1  ton  of  ore  ;  2  tons  1  cwt.  of 
ore  to  1  ton  of  iron  ;  and  $2.25  per  ton  of  ore  delivered  at 
the  Furnace  represents  the  cost  of  mining,  inclusive  of  all 
expenses. 


Outcroppings  of  ore  occur  east  and.  west  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Furnace  Banks  on  the  southern  slope  of  the  anticlinal 
ridge  facing  Spruce  Creek  and  the  Tussey  Mountain  ;  but 
no  excavations  have  been  made,  because  sufficient  stock 
was  always  procurable  at  the  Banks  near  the  Furnace.  It 
is  to  be  supposed,  therefore,  that  equally  large  and  im- 
portant deposits  may  be  exposed  by  future  systematic 
mining  operations,  when  the  completed  railway  shall  make 
demands  on  this  ore  belt  for  supplying  the  furnaces  of  East- 
ern and  Western  Pennsylvania. 

Some  of  these  surface-shows  of  ore  are  near  the  top,  others 
near  the  bottom  of  the  hill  slope.  The  ore  surface  is 
commonly  high  up  on  the  slope,  or  on  the  flat  rolling  back 
of  the  anticlinal  ridge. 

John  Ross  has  in  his  fields,  north  of  Pinegrove  Mills, 
miles  east  of  Pennsylvania  Furnace,)  an  old  funnel-shaped 
hole,  from  which  very  rich  pipe  ore  was  taken,  and  more 
can  be  seen  in  its  sides,  but  no  surface-show  ;  and  I  have 
no  data  on  which  to  base  an  estimate  of  quantity.  The  ore 
was  sent  to  Monroe  Furnace ;  was  rich  ;  but  very  red- 
short  :  lumps  of  pyrites  being  visible  in  the  bombshell  ore 
lying  about  the  hole  ;  which  is  also  coated  with  white  sul- 
phates. 

Surface  ore  can  be  traced  all  the  way  from  Ross'  to  Penn- 
sylvania Furnace,  but  no  search  underground  seems  ever  to 
have  been  made  or  en  lied  for. 


380  T1. 


r.  p.  LESLEY.     1873. 


In  the  other  direction,  down  Spruce  creek,  south-west  of 
the  furnace,  a  few  outcroppings  on  the  surface  appear,  but 
lie  neglected  for  the  same  reason.  A  few  trial  pits  seem  to 
have  been  sunk  near  the  school-house,  and  near  Mr.  Geo. 


FIG.  40. 


Lyon's  mansion,  south  of  the  turnpike.  Large  pieces  of 
pipe  ore  lie  in  the  east  corner  of  Mr.  Thos.  Lyon's  fields,  at 
the  foot  of  Tussey  mountain.  Ore  has  also  been  noticed  in 
Mr.  Stewart  Lyon's  north  fields. 


PEXN.  FURNACE  BANK. 


T4.  381 


All  the  above  are  on  the  south  slope  of  the  anticlinal  of 
Brush  valley,  facing  Tussey  mountain.  The  anticlinal  may 
be  studied  where  the  limestone  rocks  are  seen  dipping  both 

FIGURE  41. 


382  T4. 


J.    P.    LESLEY.       1873. 


ways  (N.  W.  and  S.  E.)  in  the  end  of  the  hill  at  the  fur- 
nace, and  in  the  railway  rock  cms  as  the  line  makes  its 
semi-circle  down  Half  Moon  run  and  up  Spruce  creek  and 
Tadpole  run. 


FIGURE  42. 


PKNN.   FURNACE  BANK. 
FIGURE  43. 


T.  383 


384  T4.  ,T.    P.    LESLEY.      1878. 

Three  miles  further  down  Spruce  run  a  pipe  ore  bank 
was  commenced  on  the  south  slope  of  the  anticlinal,  to  sup- 
ply works  erected  at  the  mouth  of  Spruce  creek,  for  a  pat- 
ent process  to  convert  the  ore  directly  into  wrought  iron;  but 
the  patent  process  failed,  and  the  mine  was  never  worked. 
It  sufficed  to  show  that  the  ore  belt  or  outcrop  follows  the 
ridge  along  the  north  side  of  Spruce  creek  towards  the  Juni- 
ata,  but  coalesces  with  that  of  the  Cale  hollow,  or  north  dip, 
beyond  Huntingdon  furnace,  and  sinks  beneath  the  surface, 
for  no  trace  of  it  is  found  in  the  Little  Juniata  river  section 
where  the  Canoe  Valley  anticlinal  may  be  seen  replacing 
this  of  Brush  valley. 


ANALYSES 

OF 

DITTANY  YALLEY  IEON  ORES 

AND 

LIMESTONES. 


By  Dr.  F.  A.  GENTH,  Prof.  Chem.  in  the  Univ.  Penn. 


No  11.  Lytle  Bank. — The  sample  received  for  examina- 
tion consisted  mainly  of  amorphous  compact  brown  ore, 
intermixed  with  tine  fibrous  limonite.  The  fibers  are  from 
i  to  £  of  an  inch  in  length  and  form  botryoidal  coatings  ; 
sometimes  divergent.  The  outside  covered  with  yellowish 
ocherous  ore. 

The  analysis  gave  : 

Ferric  oxide, =  82.00  =  57.40  metallic  iron. 

Manganic  oxide, =  trace. 

Alumina, =    1.94 

Magnesia, 0.17 

Lime,  trace. 

Phosphoric  acid, 0.37  =  0.16  phosphorus. 

Silicic  acid, 2.98 

Quartz, 0.44 

Water, 12.10 


100  iron  contain  0.278  phosphorus 100.00 


No.  14.  Bull  Bank. — The  samples  for  investigation,  five 
in  number,  were  taken  from  piles  of  ore  taken  out  about 
thirty  years  ago.  One  consisted  of  a  beautiful  fibrous  limo- 
nite of  a  pale  hair-brown  color  and  silky  luster,  much  re- 
sembling that  from  the  Lytle  bank,  but  of  fibers  two  inches^ 
in  length.  The  others  represented  the  amorphous  ores. 
They  are  compact,  of  various  shades  of  brown,  without 
25  T4.  C385  T*-) 


386  T4. 


F.  A.  GENTH.      1873. 


luster;  they  contain  more  or  less  cavities,  partly  filled  with 
ocherous  ore  of  a  yellowish  or  reddish  color.  The  amor- 
phous ores  have,  on  being  breathed  upon,  a  strong  argilla- 
ceous odor. 

a.  Pure  fibrous  limonite. 

Ferric  oxide,      =  81.48    =  57.04  metallic  iron. 

Manganic  oxide,       =   0.07 

Alumina, =    0.49 

Magnesia,  >                                    _  traces. 
Lime,         > 

Phosphoric  acid, 0.08    =    0.035  phosphorus. 

Silicic  acid, 3.98 

Water,      13.90 

100  iron  contained  0.061  phosphorus,  .   .       100.00 

b.  Average  of  the  five  samples. 

Ferric  oxide,      —  74.85    =  52.40  metallic  iron. 

Manganic  oxide,      =   0.29 

Cobaltic  oxide, 0.21 

Alumina, 0.42 

Magnesia,       0.12 

Lime,                  trace. 

Phosphoric  acid,      0.24    =    0.105  phosphorus 

Silicic  acid.        4.15 

Quartz, 5.92 

Water,     .  11.80 


100  iron  contained  0.20  phosphorus, 


100.00 


No.  15.  Pond  Bank  No.  1. — Two  of  the  four  specimens 
received  were  of  a  dark  brown  porous  amorphous  ore  with 
very  little  luster,  more  or  less  mixed  with  yellowish  and 
reddish  ocherous  ore;  the  third  piece  was  of  a  paler  brown, 
and  contained  small  quantities  of  fibrous  ore;  the  fourth  was 
an  ocherous  ore  of  a  pale  brown  and  yellowish  color.  An 
average  of  the  four  samples  contained  : 


Ferric  oxide, 
Manganic  oxide, 
Cobaltic        " 
Alumina,    .    .    . 
Magnesia,    .   .   . 
Lime,      .... 
Phosphoric  acid, 


—  78.68    —  58.08  metallic  iron. 
=    0.42 
trace. 
2.89 
0.20 
trace. 
0.16     «=   0.07  phosphorus. 


ANALYSES.  T*.  387 


Silicic  acid, 3.17 

Quartz, ].71 

Water, 12.77 

100  iron  contained  0.127  phosphorus,  .   .  100.00 


No.  16.  Red  Bank  No.  1. — Five  samples  of  ore  received. 
It  is  generally  an  amorphous,  compact  ore,  with  a  consider- 
able admixture  of  sand.  Some  is  more  porous,  and  has  the 
cavities  lined  with  fibrous  limonite,  and  more  or  less  filled 
with  clay.  Emits,  when  breathed  upon,  a  strong,  argilla- 
ceous odor.  Part  of  the  specimens  had  lost  a  portion  of 
their  water  of  hydration. 

The  analysis  of  an  average  sample  gave  : 

Ferric  oxide, =  65.44  =  45.81  metallic  iron. 

Manganic  oxide =   0.13 

Cobaltic  oxide, trace. 

Alumina, •   •  .   .  5.31 

Magnesia,     0.16 

Lime,            trace. 

Phosphoric  acid     =0.21    =    0.09  phosphorus. 

Silicic  acid, 6.76 

Quartz, 12.78 

Water 9.21 

100  iron  contained  0.195  phosphorus,  .   .   .     100.00 


No.  19.  Whorell  Bank.— Two  pieces  of  a  fine  brown 
porous  amorphous  ore  of  various  shades,  between  yellowish 
and  dark-brown  ;  some  portions  showing  a  slight  pitchy 
luster  ;  the  greater  part  is  dull.  Has  a  strong  argillaceous 
odor  when  breathed  upon. 

The  analysis  of  an  average  sample  gave  : 

Ferric  oide,       =  69.71  -  48.80  metallic  iron. 

Manganic  oxide, 0.46 

Cobaltic  oxide, trace. 

Alumina, 3-37 

Magnesia,     0.08 

Lime,     trace- 

Phosphoric  acid, 0.97  =  0.43  phosphorus. 

Silicic  acid, 3-51 

Quartz, 9>6° 

Water, _1^*> 

100  iron  contained  0.87  phosphorus,  .   .   .      100.00 


388  T4.  F.   A.    GENTH.       1873. 

No  27.  Kerr  and  Bredin  Bank. — The  three  specimens 
received  show  the  ore  to  be  mostly  amorphous  and  com- 
pact, and  of  various  shades  of  brown,  also  earthy  ;  some 
parts  are  porous  and  the  cavities  lined  with  fibrous  limo- 
nite.  sometimes  in  botryoidal  forms.  On  being  breathed 
upon,  develops  a  strong  argillaceous  odor 

The  average  of  the  samples  contained  : 

Ferric  oxide, =  70,67  =  49.47  metallic  iron. 

Manganic  oxide, 0.36 

Cobaltic  oxide,      trace. 

Alumnia, 3.91 

Magnesia, 0.26 

Lime, trace. 

Phosphoric  acid, =  0.19  =  0.08  phosphorus. 

Silicic  acid,         5.48 

Quartz, 6.80    .   .   . 

Water, 12.33 

100  iron  contained  0.16  phosphorus,  .   .    .      100.00 

No.  88.  Hostler  Bank. — One  specimen  of  so-called  "Pipe 
Ore."  Amorphous,  compact  and  earthy,  brown  to  yellow- 
ish brown.  Porous.  Stalactitic.  Coated  with  yellowish 
and  reddish  ocherous  ore. 

The  analysis  gave  : 

Ferric  oxide, =78.58  =  55.01  metallic  iron. 

Manganic  oxide, 0.08 

Alumina,      0.88 

Magnesia, 0.54 

Lime, 0.30 

Phosphoric  acid, 0.36  =  0.158  phosphorus. 

Silicic  acid, 4.25 

Quartz,      =    2.60 

Water,   .  .  =12.41 


100  iron  contain  0.28  phosphorus,  ....        100.00 

No.  $9.  Pennsylvania  Bank. 

a.  Two  samples  received  for  examination. 

Amorphous  brown  compact  ore  mixed  with  ochreous  yel- 
lowish or  reddish  ore ;  porous,  some  of  the  cavities  lined 
with  a  very  fine  coating  of  fibrous  ore. 

b.  So-called  pipe  ore. 

Amorphous  porous  ore,  in  columnar  masses,  the  cavities 
filled  with  ferruginous  clay. 


ANALYSES.  T4.  389 

c.  Quartz  grains,  cemented  by  brown  amorphous  limonite, 
and  disseminated  through  it  patches  of  hydrous  manganic 
oxide  and  perhaps  of  psilomelane. 

a.  Average  of  two  samples  : 

Ferric  oxide, =81.56  =57.10  metallic  iioa. 

Manganic  oxide, 0.10 

Cobaltic  oxide, trace. 

Alumina, 1.49 

Magnesia, 0.47 

Lime,      ,  trace. 

Phosphoric  acid, ,  .  .  .  0.16  =  0.07  phosphorus. 

Silicic  acid, 2.98 

Quartz 1.55           , 

Water, 11.70 

100  iron  contain  0.12  phosphorus,    ....      100.00 

b.  Pipe  ore  : 

Ferric  oxide, =  83.74  =  58.62  metallic  iron. 

Manganic  oxide, =   0.31 

Cobaltic  oxide, trace. 

Alumina, 0.33 

Magnesia, 0.34 

Lime, trace. 

Phosphoric  acid, 0.14  =   0.06  phosphorus. 

Silicic  acid, 2.57 

Quartz, 0-44 

Water 12.13 

100  iron  contain  0. 10  phosphorus,    ....      100.00 


c.  Sandrock : 

Ferric  oxide =43.65  =  30.56  metallic  iron. 

Manganic  oxide,   >                  ....  1.55 
Cobaltic  oxide,      ) 

Alumina, 2.43 

Magnesia, 1-64 

Lime,          0-12 

Phosphoric  acid,     0.27  =  0.12  phosphorus 

Silicic  acid, 5.19 

Quartz, 36-52 

Water 8-63 

100  iron  contain  0.39  phosphorus,   ....  100.00 


390  T4. 


F.    A.   GENTH.      1873. 


General  Remarks. — The  amount  of  metallic  iron  in  the 
calcined  ores  is  as  follows : 

No.    1.  East  Pennington  bank, 51.49  per  cent. 

2.  West  Pennington  bank, 57.07        " 

6.  Rumbarger  bank, 59.08        " 

11.  Lytie  bank, 65.30 

14.  Bull  bank— a,  fibrous  ore, 66.25 

14.  "        "    —6,  average, 59.41 

15.  Pond  bank,  No.  1, 63.14 

16.  Red  bank,  No.  1, 50.46 

19.  Whorell  bank, 55.64 

21.  Rye  bank, 61.17 

24.  Dry  Hollow  bank— a,  fibrous  ore,    .   .    .    66.82 

"        "          "         "      — 6,  average, 59.15 

246.  Red  Bank  of  Dry  Hollow, 63.23 

27.  Kerr  and  Bredin  bank, 56.43 

28.  Hostler  bank, 62.80 

29.  Pennsylvania  bank — a,  average,    ....  64.67 
"  "               "      — 6,  pipe  ore,  ....  66.71 
"  "               "     — c,  sandrock,     .   .   .  33.44 

Ore  from  old  cut  N.  of  Gatesburg, 57.52 

All  these  ores  were  examined  for  sulphur  and  sulphuric 
acid,  but  not  a  single  one  gave  a  decided  reaction  for  either. 

They  were  also  examined  for  titanium,  chromium,  vana- 
dium, and  other  metals,  but  with  negative  results. 

Their  only  constituent,  which  has  an  injurious  effect  upon 
the  iron  produced  from  the  same,  is  phosphoric  acid  ; 
most  of  them,  however,  contain  it  in  too  small  a  quantity 
to  do  much  harm.  Only  two  of  the  samples  contain  it  in 
a  larger  proportion. 

For  better  comparison,  I  will  arrange  the  amounts  of 
phosphorus  which  would  be  contained  in  100  parts  of  iron, 
provided  no  loss  of  either  would  be  sustained  : 

Fibrous  ore  of  Bull  bank, 0.06  phosphorus. 

Pipe  ore  of  Pennsylvania  bank, 0.10 

Average  ore  of        "  "       0.12 

Pond  bank,  No.  1,      0.127 

Wryebank,       0.15 

Kerr  and  Bredin  bank, 0.16 

Red  bank,  No.  1,       0.195 

N.  E.  or  upper  Pennington  bank, 0.197 

Average  of  Bull  bank 0.20 

Lytlebank,       0.278 

Hostler  bank, 0.28 

Rumbarger  bank, 0.30 

S.  W .  or  Lower  Pennington  bank, 0.32 


ANALYSES.  T4.  391 

Fibrous  ore  of  Dry  Hollow  bank,      0.37  phosphorus. 

Red  bank  of  Dry  Hollow, 0.38 

Sandrock  of  Pennsylvania  bank, 0.39 

Dry  Hollow  bank,      0.45  " 

Whorell  bank,         0.87  " 

Old  cut  N.  of  Gatesburg, 1.43  " 

Of  all  the  ores  submitted  for  examination  only  two  ap- 
peared to  be  in  a  sufficient  state  of  purity  to  throw  light 
upon  their  constitution.  These  were  crystalline,  and  free 
from  visible  impurities.  For  this  reason  they  were  exam  - 
ined  separately. 

Taking  into  consideration  only  their  principal  constitu- 
ents, viz :  Ferric  oxide,  silicic  acid,  and  water,  the  question 
arises :  in  which  form  the  silicic  acid  is  present,  as  it  is  un- 
doubtedly in  chemical  combination  with  the  ferric  oxide 
and  not  in  the  form  of  a  mechanical  admixture  of  sand.  If 
pieces  of  these  fibrous  limonites  are  placed  into  strong 
chlorhydric  acid,  all  the  ferric  oxide  will  be  extracted,  and 
the  silicic  acid  will  remain  in  the  shape  of  the  original 
pieces,  of  a  snow-white  color  and  fibrous  structure.  The 
only  hydrous-ferric  silicates  which  are  known  are  antho- 
siderite  and  degeroeite.  The  former  is  a  crystallized  min- 
eral, which  has  a  composition,  represented  by  the  formula 
SFeA.  9SiO24-2H2O.  It  is  very  probable  that,  although 
observed  in  its  pure  state  only  at  one  locality,  it  occurs  fre 
quently  as  an  admixture  with  other  iron  ores.  If  we  calcu 
late  for  the  3.98  per  cent,  of  silicic  acid  in  the  fibrous  min- 
eral from  Bull  mine,  the  requisite  quantities  of  ferric  oxide 
and  water,  we  find  2.36  per  cent,  of  ferric  oxide  and  0.26 
per  cent,  of  water,  making  an  admixture  of  6.60  per  cent, 
of  anthsiderite.  The  atomic  ratio  between  the  remaining 
79.12  per  cent,  of  ferric  oxide  and  13.64  per  cent,  of  water 
is  1 :  1.53,  or  very  near  2 :  3,  showing  the  hydrous  ferric  ox- 
ide to  be  limonite  =2Fe2O3,  3H2O. 

If  in  the  same  manner  we  examine  into  the  composition 
of  the  fibrous  mineral  from  the  Dry  hollow,  the  2.47  silicic 
acid  require  1.46  per  cent,  ferric  oxide  and  0.17  water,  giv- 
ing an  admixture  of  4.10  per  cent,  of  antJwsiderite.  The 
atomic  ratio  between  the  remaining  81.67  per  cent,  of  ferric 
oxide  and  12.75  per  cent,  of  water  is  1 :  1.4,  which  also 


392  T'.  F.  A.  GENTH.      1873. 

shows  the  ferric  hydrate  to  be  limonite,  which,  however, 
has  already  lost  a  small  part  of  its  water. 

The  above  analyses  show,  besides  the  mechanically  ad- 
mixed rounded  grains  of  sand,  which  I  distinguish  as 
"quartz,"  a  considerable  quantity  of  silicic  acid,  which  is 
in  chemical  combination,  probably  as  a  hydrous  ferric  ox- 
ide. But  as  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  the  true  character 
of  this  mineral  may  be,  whether  anthosiderite  or  degeroeile, 
(a  silicate  of  the  composition  Fe2O3,  2SiO2 -f-  3H2O, )  or  a 
species  not  yet  known  in  its  pure  state,  suffice  it  to  say  that 
all  these  ores  are  mechanical  mixtures  of  limonite  with  hy- 
drous ferric  silicate  and  minute  quantities  of  hydrous  ferric 
phosphate,  perhaps  dufrenite  or  cacoxenite  /  some  of  the 
ores  contain,  besides  these,  small  quantities  of  manganese 
ores,  mostly  the  so-called  "bog-manganese"  or  wad,  but 
also  pyrolusite  and  psilomelone. 

It  is  a  very  remarkable  fact  that,  although  these  iron  ores 
are  to  a  great  extent  at  least  the  result  of  the  decomposition 
of  limestones  and  by  them  precipitated,  that  almost  the  en- 
tire amount  of  lime  has  been  washed  out  of  them,  and  only 
traces  are  remaining;  of  the  second  constituent  of  the  lime- 
stones, the  magnesia,  a  somewhat  larger  quantity  is  left  be- 
hind, owing,  undoubtedly,  to  the  lesser  solubility  of  its  car- 
bonate in  carbonic  acid  water. 


Analyses  of  limestones. — Of  the  limestones  only  a  few 
typical  varieties  have  been  more  fully  investigated,  espe- 
cially those  from  the  Hostler  and  Pennsylvania  banks. 

1.  Limestone  at  Jiead  of  Hostler  ~bank. 

It  has  a  fine  crystalline  granular  structure  and  is  mottled, 
whitish  and  gray  ;  the  surface  is  coated  with  ocherous  argil- 
laceous iron  ore. 

A  pure  specimen,  from  which  the  iron  had  been  carefully 
removed,  contained : 

Carbonate  of  iron, =   0.80=   0.39  metallic  iron. 

"         "     manganese, =   0.19  = 

"         "      magnesia, =  35.19  =  16.76  magnesia. 

«         "     lime,     ....  .  =  59.44  =  33.28  lime. 


ANALYSES.  T.  393 


Quartz  and  silicic  acid, 3.84 

Alumina, 0.54 

100.00 


Atomic  ratio  between  magnesia  and  lime,  1  :  1.4, — which 
is  the  composition  of  some  of  the  ' '  pearlspar "  varieties  of 
dolomite. 

2.  Limestone  in  Hostler  bank. 

It  lies  4  feet  thick  over  33  feet  of  pipe  ore.  It  has  an  ash- 
gray  color  and  a  very  fine  grain,  which  is  hardly  perceptible 
to  the  naked  eye  ,  very  friable.  Its  composition  was  found 
to  be: 

Carbonate  of  iron, =   0.50  =   0.24  metallic  iron. 

"         "      manganese, =    0.24 

"         "      magnesia, =  42.52  =  20.25  magnesia. 

"      lime,        =  51.82  =  29.02  lime. 

Quartz  and  silicic  acid, 4.33 

Alumina, 0.42 

Water, 0.17 


100.00 

Atomic  ratio  between  magnesia  and  lime,  1  :  1, — which 
shows  it  to  be  a  true  dolomite. 

3  Upper  limestone  from  Pennsylvania  bank. 
Dark  gray  compact,  slightly  crystalline. 
The  analysis  gave  the  following  results : 

Carbonate  of  iron, =    1.31  =   0.63  metallic  iron. 

"         "      manganese, =   0.18 

«         "      magnesia, 3.98  =    1.90  magnesia. 

«         «      lime,        72.67  =  40.69  lime. 

Quartz  and  silicic  acid, 18.05 

Alumina, 3.81 

100.00 


Atomic  ratio  between  magnesia  and  lirne,  1  :  15. 

4.  Limestone  in  the  Pennsylvania  bank.—  Pale  ash  gray, 
very  finely  crystalline,  rough  to  the  touch  like  rotten  stone, 
very  friable  and  easily  falling  to  powder. 

Its  composition  was  found  to  be  : 


394  T4.  F.  A.  GENTH.       1873. 

Carbonate  of  iron, =0.45  =  0.22  metallic  iron. 

"        "  manganese, =  0.06 

"        "  magnesia, 42.39  =  20.19  magnesia. 

"        "  lime,        51.25  =  28.70  lime. 

Quartz  and  silicic  acid, 5.03 

Alumina,      0.82 


100.00 

Atomic  ratio  between  magnesia  and  lime,  1  :  1, — showing 
it  to  be  a  true  dolomite. 

5.  Another  variety  of  limestone  in  the  Pennsylvania 
bank. — Yellowish  gray,  soft,  rotten,  feels  rough  to  the 
touch,  sandy  ;  crystalline  ;  has  a  laminated  structure.  Its 
analysis  gave : 

Carbonate  of  iron, =  1.18  =  0.57  metallic  iron. 

"  "  manganese, trace. 

"  "  magnesia,      35.51  =  16.91 

««  "  lime,       45.73  =  25.61 

Quartz  and  silicic  acid, 15.83 

Alumina, 1.75 

100.00 

Atomic  ratio  between  magnesia  and  lime,  1  : 1.08 — proves 
it  also  to  be  a  true  dolomite. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  limestones  and  dolomites,  of 
which  I  give  the  analyses,  contain  almost  the  entire  amount 
of  silicic  acid  as  quartz,  only  a  small  quantit}7^  is  present  as 
soluble  silicic  acid  and  in  combination  with  alumina.  If 
the  limestones  and  dolomites  are  dissolved  in  acid,  the 
quartz  remains  often  as  a  scoriaceous  mass  or  in  irregular 
sandy  but  not  rounded  or  water- worn  grains.  Sometimes  it 
forms  large  coherent  slaty  masses  in  the  limestone,  fre- 
quently filled  with  minute  cavities,  previously  occupied  by 
rhombohedral  crystals  of  dolomite.  Similar  pieces  found 
in  the  Pennsylvania  bank  are  white,  like  porcelain,  and 
show  the  same  cavities  of  rhombohedral  crystals.  Other 
varieties  of  limestone  in  the  Pennsylvania  bank  have  a  still 
greater  admixture  of  quartz  and  are  a  real  calciferous  sand 
rock* 

*  These  analyses  summed  up  about  100,  most  of  them  a  little  above,  one  or 
two  a  little  below,  but  all  within  the  limits  of  unavoidable  error  ;  for  better 
comparison  I  thought  it  advisable  to  calculate  them  for  100.00,  from  the  actual 
result  obtained.  (F.  A.  Genth.) 


ANALYSES.  T.  395 


Analyses  of  Limestones,  by  Otto    Wuth,  Chemist,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 


1.  From  quarry  near  the    furnace — a   gray,  crystalline 
stone : 

Silicic  acid, 5.08 

Alumina, 1.34 

Carbonate  of  iron, .69 

"  lime,      91.53 

"            "  magnesia, 1.31 

Sulphate  of  lime, trace. 

Organic  matter, .05 

2.  From  ore  bank,  railroad  cut — a  partly  crystalline,  drab- 
colored  stone  : 

Silicic  acid, 4.93 

Alumina,        .24 

Carbonate  of  iron, .87 

«            «  lime, 84.66 

"           "  magnesia, 8.98 

Sulphate  of  lime,       .11 

Organic  matter, .21 

3.  Gray,  crystalline  stone,  south  side  of  road  from  Half 
Moon  run  to  Hostler  bank,  near  the  Half  Moon  run  : 

Silicic  acid, 2.71 

Alumina, .11 

Carbonate  of  iron, 1.80 

"            "  lime,         83.91 

11            "  magnesia, 11.14 

Sulphate  of  lime, 12 

Organic  matter, .21 

4.  Smooth,  gray  stone  from  north  side  of  road  near  the 
foregoing : 

Silicic  acid, 6.87 

Alumina, 1-35 

Carbonate  of  iron, -75 

«            "  lime,      86.42 

"            "  magnesia, 4.24 

Sulphate  of  lime, 21 

Organic  matter, «16 


396  T4.  j.  w.  HARDEN.     1873. 

Mining  Methods,  by  J.  W.  Harden. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  descriptions  that  mining 
operations  have  been  mostly  carried  on  in  this  region  in  an 
irregular  and  primitive  style.  I  requested  Mr.  John  W. 
Harden  to  give  me  the  benefit  of  his  great  and  varied  expe- 
rience as  a  mining  engineer  and  superintendent,  both  In  the 
English  and  in  the  American  collieries  and  iron  mines,  in 
stating  what  ought  to  be  the  most  economical  mode  of  en- 
tering on  and  exhausting  the  Nittany  valley  iron  ore  de- 
posits. His  recent  success  in  increasing  the  export  of  limo- 
nite  from  Pinegrove  furnace  banks  south  of  Carlisle  by  a 
judicious  application  of  a  system  of  regular  approaches 
justifies  me  in  placing  a  high  value  on  any  practical  sugges- 
tions he  has  to  offer  respecting  similar  deposits. 

He  therefore  visited  the  Pennington,  Dry  Hollow,  Kerr 
&  Bredin,  Pennsylvania  Furnace  and  other  banks  above  de- 
scribed, and  the  following  extracts  from  his  report  will 
show  that  there  is  but  one  conclusion  to  arrive  at,  and  that 
a  very  simple  one,  viz  : 

That  the  system  to  be  almost  universally  adopted  is  that 
by  open  cuts,  approached  from  the  direction  of  the  railway 
at  the  lowest  possible  levels,  and  worked  to  the  right  and 
left,  in  advancing  slopes,  one  above  the  other  ; 

That  the  deep,  rich  ores  should  be  worked  at  the  same 
time  with  the  upper  wash  ores,  or  not  greatly  in  arrear  of 
them,  so  that  the  wash  ore  thus  won  may  pay  the  expenses 
of  uncovering  the  richer  lower  ores  ;  and 

That  where  surface  water  is  scarce,  bore  holes  should  be 
sunk  to  serve  the  double  purpose  of  exploration  and  water 
supply. 

Whether  additional  and  larger  furnaces  be  erected  in  the 
valley,  or  whether  the  ores  be  sent  by  rail  to  the  iron  works 
in.  Eastern  and  Western  Pennsylvania,  in  both  contingen- 
cies an  exploitation  of  ore  must  be  provided  for  amounting 
to  many  hundred  thousand  tons  per  annum. 

The  largest  mining  operation  in  the  valley  being  that  of 
the  Pennsylvania  furnace,  Mr.  Harden  takes  the  account- 
book  of  the  works  at  that  point  for  a  practical  basis  of  cal- 
culation of  the  cost  of  exploitation.  It  is  evident  that  min- 


MINING  METHODS.  T4.  397 

ing  conditions  through  the  valley  are  very  similar.  No 
system  of  between-rock  mining  will  be  required  for  many 
years.  But  exploring  drifts  and  shafts  will  be  necessary; 
and  under-cutting,  where  the  clays  are  destitute  of  ore  and 
too  thick  to  remove.  Most  of  the  work,  however,  must  be 
done  in  open  cuts,  of  great  extent,  with  simple  machinery 
for  obtaining  water  and  washing  the  entire  mass  of  ore- 
ground  to  the  very  bottom,  or  to  the  deep  rock  ores,  which 
can  be  quarried  and  used  without  washing.  In  many  cases 
the  rock  ore,  and  in  some  cases  the  clay  ore,  can  be  followed 
downward  between  solid  masses  of  limestone  rock ;  but  this 
must  be  done  in  connection  with  the  open-cuts. 

At  the  Pennington  bank  there  appear  to  be  from  50  to  80 
feet  of  wash  ore  and  clays,  overlying  from  8  to  16  feet  of 
rock-ore. 

At  the  Dry  Hollow  banks  there  is  a  stripping  at  the  sur- 
face from  5  to  15  feet  deep  containing  but  little  ore  ;  then 
wash  ore  with  sands  and  sandy  clays  to  a  depth  of  20  or  30 
feet,  before  reaching  rock  ore. 

At  the  Hostler  banks  a  top  stripping  of  5  feet  or  more 
covers  50  to  60  feet  of  wash  ore  in  clay,  under  which  lie  the 
pipe  ores ;  which  are  reported  as  having  been  in  one  place 
over  40  feet  deep ;  limestone  layers  covering  and  dividing 
the  mass.  The  miner  who  sunk  the  last  shaft  informed  Mr. 
Harden  that  it  went  down  60  feet  through  wash  ore,  5  feet 
through  solid  limestone,  and  7  feet  in  pipe  ore  on  one  side 
of  it,  and  wash  ore  on  the  other  side ;  water  stopping  further 
sinking. 

At  the  Pennsylvania  Furnace  banks  the  entire  mass  from 
the  surface  to  the  floor  of  the  quarry  is  wash  ore  mixed  with 
clay  and  sand.  The  whole  of  this  mass  has  been  washed. 
"In  one  place  a  13-feet  face  of  excavation  gave  3  to  4  feet  of 
surface  soil  and  sienna-colored  sandy  wash  ;  the  remainder, 
below  it,  being  a  sandy,  whitish  ocher,  and  sienna-colored 
clay,  streaked  and  marbled  with  red  and  brown,  and  some, 
not  large,  lumps  of  ore.  Scattered  through  the  whole,  in 
considerable  quantity  in  some  places,  are  small  pieces  of 
quartz,  which  are  picked  out  after  the  ore  has  passed  over 
the  trays.  In  another  part  of  the  diggings  this  quartz,  from 


398  T4.  j.  w.  HARDEN.     1873. 

the  size  of  shot  to  lumps  3  or  4  inches  thick,  is  scattered 
through  the  mass.*  Some  masses  of  this  quartz,  of  one  or 
two  cubic  feet  in  size,  lie  about  the  quarry. 

"  In  a  deeper  part  of  the  diggings,  where  the  face  of  iron 
and  work  measures  45  or  50  feet,  in  two  heights  of  15  and 
30  to  35  feet,  now  being  moved  to  the  inclined  plane  for 
washing,  the  face  is  made  up  of  sand  and  various  colored 
clays  holding  ore,  all  of  which  is  washed.  Limestone  ap- 
pears at  the  bottom  and  pipe  .ore  has  been  found  under- 
neath it." 

Mr.  Harden  advises  that  the  stripping  of  wash-ore  be  not 
carried  on  far  in  advance  of  the  lifting  of  the  rock  and  pipe 
ore  at  the  bottom  ;  because,  even  where  the  farming  inter- 
est does  not  interfere,  such  a  plan  "disturbs  the  equal  dis- 
tribution of  dead  work"  and  prevents  the  rejection  of  those 
parts  of  the  stripping  which  do  not  pay  well  for  washing. 
Ample  room  ought  to  be  got  early  for  lifting  the  entire 
mass  of  rich  bottom  ores. 

"  With  a  good  roomy  open  cutting  the  mass  of  wash-ore 
should  cost  no  more  to  move  than  so  much  ordinary  exca- 
vation." "The  ore-earth  is  loaded  into  cars,  carrying  29£ 
cubic  feet,  led  by  horses  300  to  500  feet  to  the  foot  of  the 
incline,  whence  it  is  lifted  37  feet  on  a  grade  of  14°,  to  a 
level  with  the  washers,  by  a  12-inch  cylinder  steam  engine, 
2-foot  stroke,  and  a  pair  of  8-foot  drums.  The  car  load  is 
again  dragged  150  feet  and  dumped  into  the  washing  troughs, 
in  which  revolve  three  Archimedian  screw-propeller  shafts 
20,  26,  and  26  feet  long  respectively.  The  shafts  are  of 
decagonal  timber,  15  inches  in  diameter,  on  the  facets  of 
which  are  screwed  cast-iron  blades.  The  ore  travels  72  feet 
and  is  dropped  into  two  classifying  screens,  the  sand  and 
mud  being  floated  off  to  the  settling  dam.  The  screens  have 
\  inch  and  TV  inch  meshes.  The  ore  falls  on  sheet-iron 
trays  where  the  quartz  is  picked  out.  The  washers  are 
driven  by  a  16-inch  cylinder  engine,  54-inch  stroke  ;  the 
steam  being  generated  in  two  double-flue  boilers  30  feet 


*  Mr.  Harden  gives  an  analysis  of  this  quartz :  Water,  0.50 ;  silica,  96.00 ;  iron 
and  alumina,  1.76;  undetermined,  1.68. 


MINING  METHODS.  T*.  399 

long  and  40  inches  in  diameter.  The  water  arrives  by  an 
aquaduct  2000  feet  long  and  mounted  on  trestles  arranged 
along  the  top  of  the  hill.  It  is  fed  by  a  pipe  of  12-inch  di- 
ameter laid  up  the  hillside  to  a  vertical  height  of  110  feet 
above  a  double  Worthington  pump  with  20-inch  steam  and 
15-inch  water  cylinders  ;  the  fall  of  aquaduct  is  1  foot  to  250. 
The  steam  boilers  for  the  pump  are  also  30  feet  long  by  40 
inches  in  diameter,  driving  also  a  Blake  stone-crusher,  used 
for  the  flux. 

The  digging  of  the  ore  is  said  to  be  done  by  contract  at 
half  the  price  of  ordinary  earth. 

Six  cubic  yards  of  earth  have  been  found  to  produce  an 
average  of  one  ton  of  washed  ore,  the  diggers  being  paid  16 
cents  per  car-load  of  29.58  cubic  feet  =23.67  of  solid  earth. 
A  cubic  yard  will  therefore  cost  18£  cents  and  a  ton  of  ore 
$1.09.  The  ore  delivered  at  the  furnace  costing  $2,  there 
remains  91  cents  for  loading,  raising,  washing,  picking,  and 
delivery. 

But  the  great  economy  of  this  operation  can  be  duly  re- 
alized only  by  remembering  that  the  earth  washed  and 
earth  utilized  is  that  which  under  any  other  circumstances 
would  be  dumped  on  one  side  as  "spoil,"  and  as  such 
chargeable  against  the  lower  and  better  ore.  "  Seeing  also 
that  in  so  utilizing  this  (otherwise)  refuse  just  so  much 
dead  charge  is  removed,  we  are  led  to  anticipate  a  less  cost- 
ly production  of  the  ore  which  follows  it ;  and  we  have 
ground  for  contemplating  equally  favorable  results  at  other 
banks,  the  same  course  being  pursued." 

The  furnace  stands  under  the  high  bank  of  Spruce  Creek, 
with  its  village  occupying  the  upper  slopes  on  both  sides  of 
the  creek,  and  the  farms  stretching  south  and  east  to  the 
foot  of  the  mountain.  It  is  a  stack  43  feet  high,  9£  feet 
across  the  boshes,  48-inch  tunnel,  slope  of  boshes  68°, 
hearth  5i  feet  high,  48  inches  wide  at  top  and  30  inches  at 
the  bottom,  with  two  cold  air  tuyeres,  fed  from  blowing  tubs 
6.4  long,  driven  by  a  16-inch  cylinder  engine,  4£  feet  stroke. 

A  Cameron  blast,  22-inch  steam  cylinder  and  6  x  5  feet 
blowing-tub  is  held  in  reserve.  Steam  is  generated  in  three 
30-foot  cylinders  42  inches  in  diameter,  fed  with  creek  wa- 


400  T.  .  j.  w.  HARDEX.     1873. 

ter  by  a  No.  4  Cameron  steam  pump,  with  a  No.  8  Earl 
steam  pump  in  reserve.  Another  steam  engine  drives 
three  lathes. 

The  uniform  yield  of  the  furnace  has  been  100  tons  per 
week.  It  is  now  changed  to  hot  blast,  by  the  recent  erec- 
tion of  a  Pleyer  oven  17x5x2£  feet,  with  six  tiers  of  pipes, 
in  a  building  17x12. 


APPENDIX  B. 


Observations  on  the  Geological  Formations  Nos.  77,  777, 
IV,  F,  F7,  777,  VIII,  in  Center  County. 


BY  A.  L.  EWING, 
Prof.  Geol.  and  ZooL,  State  College. 


Formation  No.  II. 
Trenton,  Chazy,  Calciferous,  &c. 

Formation  No.  II  is  not  sharply  divisible  into  epochs  cor- 
responding t(  those  recognized  in  New  York.  It  consists 
of  layers  of  sandstone  and  arenaceous  limestone  below,  pro- 
ducing a  sandy  soil,  while  the  upper  portion  consists  of  a 
blue,  argillaceous,  clay-producing  limestone.  Between  these 
are  all  varieties  of  intermediate  grades.  Below,  the  lime- 
stone is  more  thoroughly  impregnated  with  carbonate  of 
magnesia  ;  dolomite  and  limestone  succeeding  each  other 
in  alternating  layers  to  a  marked  extent. 

The  core  of  the  State  College  well,  taken  from  the  lower 
part  of  the  series,  illustrates  the  above  points. 

It  represents  over  100  feet  of  strata,  and  shows,  with  the 
more  pure  and  compact  limestone,  several  places  composed 
of  friable,  calcareous  sandrock. 

According  to  the  acid  test  it  is  composed  of  dolomite  and 
calcitic  layers  varying  from  a  few  inches  to  a  few  feet  in 
thickness. 

26  T.  (401  T4-> 


402  T.  Plnte  XV. 


Fig.l  Plication  producedby  solution, 
as  shown  in  a  railway  cutting  in  the 
Barrens  of  Centre  county. 


Fig.2. 

Section  across  Nittany  vaRey  atPenria 
Furnace. 

N.W.  S.E. 

FENNA.  FURNACE 


A.  L.  twin  a. 


FORMATION   NO.   II.  T4.  403 

Although  the  upturned  edges  of  the  rocks  are  usually 
covered  with  soil,  it  is  but  a  thin  and  nearly  uniform  coat  of 
the  rock  mass  disintegrated  in  situ,  so  that  the  generally 
undulating  character  of  Nittany  valley  is  dependent  di- 
rectly on  the  underlying  rock. 

A  tendency  to  minor  ridges  and  valleys  parallel  to  the 
axis  of  the  valleys  is  everywhere  noticeable,  these  indica- 
ting the  position  of  more  resisting  or  more  easily  disinte- 
grating strata. 


The  position  of  the  Nittany  Valley  anticlinal  axis  is 
marked  on  the  surface  in  most  places  by  a  prominent  sandy 
ridge  known  as  the.  Barrens.  It  rises  in  places  200  or 
300  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  valley.  It  is  more  prom- 
inent toward  the  north  eastern  and  south  western  portions 
of  the  county ;  dying  away  north  east  of  Bellefonte,  then 
reappearing  gradually  to  the  south-west,  reaching  its  full 
height  near  Scotia. 

Along  the  Bellefonte  turnpike  the  position  of  the  anticli- 
nal may  be  pretty  definitely  located.  A  short  distance 
south-east  of  the  toll-gate,  dark  arenaceous  limestone  may 
be  seen  dipping  from  6°  to  10°  S.  E.  ;  while  the  first  rocks 
found  in  situ  north-west  of  the  toll-gate  dip  to  the  N.  W. 

In  this  region,  however,  there  is  little  to  indicate  the 
source  of  the  deep  sandy  soil  found  where  the  ridge  is  more 
prominent.  The  natural  inference  is  that  in  the  latter  case 
rocks  of  a  lower  horizon,  containing  more  arenaceous  ma- 
terial, are  brought  to  the  surface  and  disintegrated. 

The  new  Bellefonte  and  Buffalo  Run  railroad  grade 
crosses  the  Barrens  by  a  circuitous  route  in  the  vicinity  of 
State  College.  Along  the  grade  are  exposures  showing 
well  the  character  of  the  soil  and  rocks  of  the  Barrens. 
Within  the  Barrens  the  material  is  a  mass  of  clay,  sand, 
gravel,  iron  ore  and  bowlders,  with  ledges  of  solid  rock. 
This  material,  however,  is  not  intimately  mixed,  but  in 
many  places  is  stratified,  preserving  distinctly  minor  fold- 
ings and  contortions,  and  indicating  that  it  has  been  formed 
in  situ. 


404  T4.  liEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       A.   L.   KWING. 

Approaching  the  ridge  from  its  south-east  side  the  lowest 
strata  exposed  intact  have  a  gentle  south-east  dip.  Prom 
1  to  1^  miles  from  the  crest  of  the  ridge  the  limestone,  in 
many  places  arenaceous  and  dolomitic,  has  a  dip  of  from  7° 
to  11°  S.  E. 

Nearer  to  the  ridge,  across  Big  Hollow  reliable  outcrop 
is  very  scarce,  although  partly  disintegrated  masses  of  sand- 
stone and  rotten  arenaceous  limestone  are  common. 

Just  where  the  grade  crosses  the  road  and  enters  the 
woods  of  the  Barrens  a  white  sandstone  ledge  is  exposed 
under  circumstances  which  indicate  that  it  has  not  been  dis- 
turbed from  its  original  position.  This  has  a  dip  of  4°,  and 
is  from  £  to  £  of  a  mile  from  the  probable  position  of  -the 
crest. 

In  through  the  Barrens  cuts  from  10  feet  to  15  feet  deep 
expose  no  strata  the  dip  of  which  I  can  regard  as  reliable  ; 
although  a  number  of  horizontal  or  slightly  south-east-dip- 
ping ledges  are  uncovered. 

The  above  indicates  that  in  this  region  the  Nit  tan  y  anti- 
cline has  a  very  broad  and  flat  crest.  But  minor  folds  or 
waves  are  to  be  found  in  this  region. 

One  of  these  is  nicely  shown  in  limestone  strata  along  the 
new  grade  on  the  farm  of  J.  C.  Cr  a  marine.  Here  a  small 
anticline  is  shown,  only  a  few  rods  across,  and  parallel  with 
the  valley. 

The  plications  in  the  stratified  sands  and  clays  in  the 
Barrens  doubtless  owe  their  origin  in  some  cases  to  the 
foldings  in  the  original  rocks ;  but  in  many  cases  the 
folds  have  been  modified,  or  indeed  produced,  by  an  en- 
tirely different  cause,  viz :  a  smaller  portion  of  insoluble 
material  in  certain  places,  thereby  permitting  greater  set- 
tling, as  a  result  of  disintegration  ;  or  a  more  favorable  ex- 
posure of  certain  parts  to  percolating  waters,  which  have 
carried  away  a  larger  proportion  of  material,  either  me- 
chanically or  in  solution.  Probably  both  of  these  causes 
have  acted  at  once. 

This  is  shown  to  a  marked  degree  in  the  new  grade  al- 
luded to  above.  Here  in  several  places  the  material  is 
partly  disintegrated  on  either  side  of  projecting  points  of 


FORMATION   NO.  II.  T4.  405 

horizontal  siliceous  limestone,  so  that  it  has  materially  set- 
tled, at  the  same  time  preserving  its  lines  of  stratification. 
The  appearance  is  that  of  a  sharp,  anticlinal  fold.  Fig.  1 
on  page  402  represents  these  points ;  a  represents  the  un- 
eroded  siliceous  limestone ;  b  represents  the  semi-disinte- 
grated, shaly  mass,  showing  stratification  lines,  but  grad- 
ing into  the  thoroughly  disintegrated  clay  and  sand,  c. 

Stratified  clays,  etc.,  having  all  varieties  of  dip  are  com- 
mon throughout  the  Barrens  as  shown  in  ore  banks  and 
other  excavations. 

Although  the  rock  intact  may  not  be  exposed  beneath 
the  positions  of  the  crests  of  the  folds,  it  may  exist  unex- 
posed  below,  or  being  disintegrated  may  contain  a  super- 
abundance of  insoluble  material,  or  be  less  favorably  ex- 
posed to  subterranean  erosive  agencies  and  produce  similar 
results  as  shown  above.  This  explains  the  dips  and  con- 
tortions in  the  ore-seams  themselves  as  seen  at  Scotia  and 
in  other  banks. 

It  is  evident  that  the  clay  and  sand  of  the  Barrens  have 
been  intimately  mixed  in  the  original  rock  with  the  cal- 
careous material  that  has  been  dissolved.  Disintegrating 
ledges  present  themselves  on  the  more  exposed  surface — a 
porous  mass  of  sand  and  clay  ready  to  fall  in  pieces  on 
being  struck  with  a  hammer. 

The  sandstone  where  seen  is  generally  very  porous  and 
friable,  even  in  the  few  cases  in  which  it  outcrops  as  ledges, 
but  more  so  in  the  case  of  bowlders. 

Some  of  the  rocks  and  bowlders  in  recently  exposed  cuts 
contain  sand  and  limestone  so  intimately  mixed  that  it  is 
impossible  to  say  to  which  class  they  belong. 

With  the  above  mentioned  material  are  large  amounts  of 
flinty  bowlders.  These  are  of  various  shapes,  generally 
very  irregular,  with  uneven  surfaces.  In  other  cases  they 
have  a  spherical  form  and  concretionary  structure.  The 
latter  are  usually  Jiornstone,  while  the  former  are  of  a 
lighter  color  sometimes  composed  of  angular  pieces  of 
flint,  giving  the  stone  a  brecciated  appearance 


406  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWIXG. 

Along  the  S.  E.  side  of  the  Barrens,  in  the  vicinity  of 
State  College,  is  found  a  rock,  so  far  as  I  know  peculiar  to 
this  locality.  It  has  a  general  resemblance  to  oblytic  lime- 
stone, but  is  composed  of  siliceous  concretions,  about  the 
size  of  mustard  seeds,  imbedded  in  a  siliceous  matrix.  Its 
color  is  usually  white,  though  it  is  sometimes  iron-stained. 
In  other  cases  both  concretions  and  matrix  consist  of  horn- 
stone.  Large  quantities  of  this  material  may  be  picked  up 
from  the  surface  in  this  region. 

I  found  fragments  of  this  same  material  near  the  Barrens 
in  Walker  township,  near  Snydertown. 

At  another  locality  three  miles  S.  W.  are  found  pieces  of 
a  compact  siliceous  clay  of  a  drab  color,  containing  con- 
cretionary cavities  the  size  of  a  pea,  some  of  which  are 
filled  with  a  fine  white  clay. 

Sand  is  mined  along  the  ridge  for  local  use.  It  is  gener- 
ally highly  colored  by  iron  and  is  impure.  The  grains  are 
considerably  rounded.  In  places  along  the  new  grade 
almost  perfectly  pure  seams  of  sand  may  be  found,  though 
of  only  a  few  inches  in  thickness,  with  layers  of  clay  above 
and  below  of  similar  thickness. 

Together  with  this  semi-stratified  mass  of  clay,  sand,  etc., 
iron  ore  is  found  almost  everywhere  in  greater  or  less 
quantities.  It  is  generally  the  hydrous  oxide  or  limonite, 
and  is  usually  imbedded  in  the  clay.  It  is  arranged  in  in- 
definite seams  or  strata. 

Some  of  the  clay  seams  contain  an  inconspicuous  amount ; 
while  in  other  cases  sufficient  ore  is  present  to  make  it 
apparent  in  a  fresh  cut. 

When  it  is  one  half  or  one  third  ore.  it  is  termed  wash 
or  lump  ore,  depending  on  whether  the  ore  is  in  large  or 
smaller  pieces. 

Wherever  the  ore  is  in  sufficient  proportion,  say  one 
fourth  of  the  mass,  it  may  be  mined. 

The  point  that  I  wish  to  make  prominent  here  is  that  the 
ore,  flint,  clay,  sand,  etc.,  are  found  in  essentially  the 
same  condition,  there  being  simply  a  different  proportion 


FORMATION   NO.  II.  T*.  407 

of  the  above-named  ingredients  in  the  various  strata  as  ex- 
plained above. 

In  case  of  the  sand,  clay  and  flint  it  is  impossible  to  doubt 
that  they  constitute  the  insoluble  residue  of  the  rocks  dis- 
integrated in  situ.  They  are  ingredients  of  the  rocks  sjill 
found  intact,  which  fact,  together  with  their  stratification, 
makes  the  case  a  plain  one. 

From  the  porous  condition  of  the  fragments  of  sandstone 
remaining,  and  from  the  disintegrating  arenaceous  lime- 
stones found,  it  is  probable  that  the  sand  is  from  arenaceous 
limestones  or  from  calcareous  sand-rocks  rather  than  from 
sandstones  pure  and  simple. 

That  so  large  a  number  of  flint  bowlders  are  found  on  the 
surface  is  merely  a  result  of  erosion  which  has  carried  away 
the  soluble  and  finer  materials. 

That  the  iron  ore  formed  a,  part  of  the  original  rock  mass 
is  scarcely  less  evident  than  in  the  case  of  the  other  ma- 
terials. I  believe  that  all  analyses  of  limestones  of  this 
series  give  an  appreciable  amount  of  iron.  It  is  common  to 
find  porous  sandstones  stained  by  a  residuum  of  iron  in  the 
form  of  an  oxide. 

On  A.  S.  Zimmerman's  farm  near  Zion,  in  Walker  town- 
ship, at  the  foot  of  Chestnut  ridge,  is  an  outcropping  ledge 
of  mottled  limestone,  portions  of  which  are  of  a  dull  red 
color.  Tested  by  Prof.  Bell,  of  State  College,  it  gave  I  per 
cent,  of  metallic  iron.  This  stone  is  in  a  disintegrating 
stage  and  is  found  only  by  removal  of  surface  material. 

In  other  regions  analyses  have  shown  greater  propor- 
tions of  iron,  though  these  are  exceptions  rather  than  the 
rule. 

One  or  two  per  cent,  of  iron,  or  even  less,  in  the  original 
limestone  may  at  first  seem  inadequate  to  account  for  the 
vast  quantities  of  iron  ore  found  along  the  valley.  It  must 
be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  by  far  the  greater  part, 
(probably  80  per  cent.)  of  the  limestone  mass  consists  of 
carbonate  of  lime  and  magnesia,  and  that  this  has  been  car- 
ried away  in  solution  by  running  water  ;  that  the  sand, 
clay  and  iron  left  behind  were  merely  the  accessories  or 
impurities  of  this  limestone  mass.  There  is  this  difference, 


408  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWLNG. 

however,  between  the  iron  and  the  other  substances  :  while 
they  exist  as  stable  chemical  compounds  passing  from  the 
rock  to  the  soil  without  change,  the  iron  is  found  in  less 
stable  compounds  and  may  change  from  one  form  to  an- 
other during  the  process  of  jock  decay.  The  ore  now  ex- 
ists as  ferric  oxide.  The  iron  in  the  limestone  is  in  some 
cases  ferrous  carbonate.  The  specimens  alluded  to  above, 
from  Zimmerman's,  contained  both  the  ferric  and  ferrous 
salts. 

This  seems  to  be  evidence  in  favor  of  the  opinion  that  the 
original  condition  of  the  iron  in  the  limestone  was  as  fer- 
rous salts,  in  most  cases  probably  ferrous  carbonate  ;  that 
as  the  rocks  have  decayed  the  ferrous  salts  have  been  con- 
verted by  oxidation  into  ferric  oxides  ;  and  it  would  seem 
that  the  rock  from  which  the  above  specimen  was  taken 
was  undergoing  this  process  of  change.  It  is  probable  that 
in  most  cases  the  change  took  place  in  situ :  but  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  it  may  have  been  transported  mechanically  by 
the  action  of  flowing  water. 

A  more  important  consideration  is  that  the  ferrous  car- 
bonate is  soluble  in  water  containing  carbon  dioxides.  That 
there  was  decaying  organic  matter  sufficient  to  supply  the 
carbonic  dioxide  in  certain  cases  scarcely  admits  of  a 
doubt.  Hence  it  is  probable  that  portions  of  the  ore  have 
been  dissolved,  transported,  deposited,  and  oxidized  during 
the  general  process  of  rock  decay ;  that  the  subterranean 
waters,  in  crossing  through  the  rock  masses  in  this  region 
and  dissolving  out  the  soluble  portions,  have  also  to  some 
extent  changed  the  location  and  tended  to  accumulate  the 
iron  ore.  Yet  the  facts  would  indicate  that,  as  a  rule, 
changes  wrought  on  the  iron  have  been  wrought  in  situ, 
except  so  far  as  the  whole  mass  has  settled  as  a  result  of 
the  removal  of  soluble  portions  ;  and  this  gives  us  an  ex- 
planation of  the  apparent  seams  of  iron  g  ore  and  their 
various  contortions. 

It  would  seem  possible  then,  from  the  nature  of  the  case, 
to  trace  out  ore  horizons  or  ranges,  and  to  calculate  on  the 
location  of  their  outcrop. 


FORMATION    NO.   II.  T4.  409 

This  has  already  been  attempted,  and  I  shall  allude  to  it 
in  treating  of  ores  from  other  horizons. 

Along  the  Barren  ridge,  where  the  rocks  are  so  nearly 
disintegrated,  the  tracing  of  ore  ranges  is  attended  with 
increased  difficulties.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  enor- 
mous amount  of  ore  in  this  region  indicates  that  there  were 
very  thick  strata  of  iron-bearing  rocks  among  the  lowest 
exposed  along  the  anticlinal  ridge. 

The  Scotia  bank  and  the  old  Ackley  bank  are  on  a  line 
about  parallel  with  the  axis  of  the  valley. 

Between  these,  on  the  same  straight  line,  are  two  minor 
openings,  one  of  which,  I  believe,  is  known  as  the  Lytle 
bank.  It  would  seem  that  these  three,  extending  along  a 
line  of  not  more  than  two  miles,  and  probably  other  open- 
ings in  the  Barrens,  belong  to  the  same  geological  horizon. 
Yet  it  will  be  seen  from  what  has  already  been  said  that 
the  seams  are  not  definite  enough  to  trace  for  any  consid- 
erable distance,  nor  regular  enough  to  calculate  on  far  be- 
yond the  point  of  exposure. 


I  have  alluded  to  evidence  in  the  S.  E.  dipping  rocks  in 
Benner  and  Patton  townships  that  Nittany  has  a  broad, 
flat  anticline. 

In  Walker  township  however  the  greater  dip  and  steeper 
ridge  indicate  a  more  abrupt  anticline.  The  admirable  ex- 
posures in  the  vicinity  of  Bellefonte  and  along  Logan's 
branch  show  the  anticline  to  have  a  very  moderate  S.  E. 
dip,  but  a  very  much  greater  N.  W.  dip.  Throughout  the 
valley  the  dip  is  much  greater  on  the  N.  W.  than  on  the 
S.  E.  side  of  the  Nittany  axis.  This  is  consistent  with  the 
position  of  the  axis  being  nearer  to  the  Bald  Eagle  side. 

In  many  places  through  the  Buffalo  run  region^  and  also 
in  Marion  township  the  N.  W.  dipping  strata  are  vertical, 
or  even  overthrown  so  as  to  dip  to  the  S.  E. 

To  such  an  extent  is  this  the  case  in  the  vicinity  of  Scotia 
that  I  will  describe  in  detail  the  dips  that  I  have  observed 
here. 


410  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWING. 

At  the  Scotia  lank. 

The  Barrens  are  here  from  one  to  two  miles  wide,  show- 
ing no  reliable  outcrop.  As  we  emerge  from  this  wilder- 
ness, facing  north-west,  we  come  upon  a  very  prominent 
ridge.  This  is  the  ridge  just  north-west  of  the  Scotia  bank, 
on  which  are  situated  the  Mattern  store,  church,  etc. 

This  ridge  is  traceable,  north-eastward,  a  considerable  dis- 
tance. Near  its  base,  40  or  50  rods  from  the  Scotia  bank, 
is  a  quarry  in  which  the  beds  dip  32°  >S.  35°  E. 

Numerous  other  outcrops  are  found  along  the  ridge  in 
both  directions.  On  David  Behrrer's  farm,  about  one  mile 
north- west,  prominent  ledges  dip  from  14°  to  18°  >S.  23°  E. 
This  is  nearer  the  crest  of  the  ridge. 

One  mile  further  north-west,  near  the  new  grade,  the 
ridge  is  prominent,  rising  100'  above  the  road-bed  within 
40  rods  of  the  same,  and  showing  numerous  ledges  dip- 
ping from  10°  to  25°  >S.  E. 

At  the  school-house  north-east  of  Scotia  is  a  quarry  in 
which  the  rocks  dip  24°  >  S.  23°  E. 

All  of  these  exposures  are  near  the  same  horizon,  and 
show  a  rather  gritty  dolomite  limestone  which  exhibits  a 
black  surface  on  weathering. 

At  Scotia  a  limestone  is  struck  about  70  or  80  feet  below 
the  surface.  Wells  are  said  to  pass  through  this  rock,  the 
wells  averaging  400  feet  in  depth.  It  seems  a  natural 
inference  that  the  limestone  is  the  same  or  at  any  rate 
contiguous  to  that  forming  the  ledge.  I  have  been  unable 
to  find  out  the  dip  of  the  rocks  in  the  wells,  neither  have  I 
made  any  measurements  to  determine  whether  the  above  is 
the  case. 

About  150  rods  north-west  of  the  school-house  quarry 
mentioned  above,  on  S.  T.  Gray's  place,  in  a  limestone 
quarry  the  rocks  dip  45°  >S.  E.  This  is  a  very  good  blue 
limestone,  showing  but  little  if  any  dolomite  properties. 

On  this  same  minor  ridge,  and  therefore  on  the  same 
geological  horizon,  1£  miles  south-east,  on  G.  Mattern' s 
place,  is  an  old  quarry  having  a  S.  E.  dip  of  50°. 

About  ^  mile  north-west   of  Gray's  quarry  is  a  blue 


FORMATION   NO.  II.  T4.  411 

limestone  quarry,  also  owned  by  G.  Mattern,  in  which  the 
dip  is  64°  >S.  E. 

At  a  slight  bend  in  the  road  toward  Matternville,  a  short 
distance  N.  W.  of  the  above,  there  is  a  dip  of  65°  S.  E. 

About  half  way  between  this  and  the  Buffalo  run  road  is 
a  S.  E.  dip  of  82°. 

At  the  school-house  near  Matternville  the  dip  varies  from 
83°  >S.  E.  to  vertical  as  you  go  north-west. 

Here  the  Trenton  fossiliferous  limestone  appears,  and 
Hudson  Rioer  shales  dip  from  80°  >N.  W.  to  vertical. 

The  only  interpretation  that  I  can  put  upon  the  above  is 
that  in  this  region  the  Nittany  anticlinal  is  overturned  and 
collapsed.  The  tolerable  complete  gradations  in  dip  be- 
tween the  low  S.  E.  dipping  rocks  at  the  ridge  and  the  ver- 
tical rocks  near  the  mountains,  the  character  of  the  dolo- 
mitic  and  arenaceous  rocks  near  the  ridge,  changing  to  ar- 
gillaceous limestone  towards  the  mountains,  and  the  ab- 
sence of  evidence  of  a  fault  in  this  region,  combine  to  indi- 
cate that  all  of  these  S.  E.  dipping  rocks  have  taken  part  in 
the  overturn.  Even  the  limestone  ridge  at  Scotia  and  the 
strata  penetrated  by  the  Scotia  wells  would  seem  to  be  over- 
turned. It  is  inconsistent  with  what  is  known  of  No.  II  in 
other  regions  to  find  limestone  intact  so  low  down  in  the 
Calciferons  sand-rock  below  so  great  a  mass  of  sand  as  is  ex- 
posed in  the  Barrens.  Accordingly,  then,  the  anticline  is 
at  Scotia,  or  some  distance  southeast  of  it,  and  the  ore  of  the 
Scotia  bank,  or  at  least  a  part  of  it,  has  been  formed  from 
rocks  disintegrated  bottom  side  upwards. 

The  Barrens  continue  toward  the  southwest  as  a  well 
marked  ridge,  though  the  rocks  are  overturned  to  a  less 
degree. 

Opposite  Stormstown  at  the  edge  of  the  Barrens  there  is 
an  exposure  of  vertical  or  slightly  S.  E.  dipping  limestone 
having  a  strike  of  N.  30°  E.  by  S.  30°  W. 

In  the  opposite  direction  evidence  of  an  overturn  is  to  be 
found  for  only  a  short  distance. 

At  the  Pond  bank,  near  the  center  of  Patton  township, 
there  is  evidence  of  the  overturn.  Here  the  ridge  is  much 


412  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWING. 

less  prominent,  the  barometer  indicating  a  difference  of 
about  200  feet. 

Though  minor  ridges  are  to  be  found  similar  to  those  far- 
ther southwest  indicating  by  their  topography  S.  E.  dipping 
rocks,  I  find  no  reliable  exposure  until  near  the  washer  in 
the  Buffalo  Run  valley.  Here  the  limestone  dips  80°>  S. 
23°  E. 

Farther  down  the  valley  on  M.  Thompson's  property  is 
an  exposure  of  dolomitic  limestone  with  a  low  N.  W.  dip. 
As  this  is  an  isolated  outcrop  I  do  not  place  implicit  reli- 
ance upon  it.  If  it  is  a  normal  outcrop  it  indicates  a  rather 
sudden  termination  of  the  overturn. 

Four  hundred  yards  farther  down  the  valley,  on  the  town- 
ship road  between  Benner  and  Patton,  there  are  numerous 
N.  W.  dipping  rocks,  from  10°  to  22°  >  N.  20°  W.  (on  a  hill 
south-east  of  Fillmore)  to  the  nearly  vertical  limestone  and 
slate  of  the  mountain.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  the  over- 
turn does  not  reach  this  region. 

In  this  vicinity  the  Barren  ridge  has  subsided  and  be- 
come inconspicuous. 

Spring  Greek  winds  through  the  region  of  the  anticline, 
making  in  places  beautiful  gorges,  and  exposing  dark- 
weathering  arenaceous  limestone  of  low  dip,  resembling  in 
character  that  seen  along  the  Belief  on  te  turnpike.  It  is 
probable  that  the  rocks  here  exposed  belong  to  a  horizon 
above  those  forming  the  loose  material  of  the  Barrens. 

Northeast  of  Bellefonte,  between  Walker  and  Marion, 
the  very  prominent  Chestnut  Ridge  is  probably  caused 
by  an  overturning  of  the  anticline  similar  to  that  in  the  re- 
gion just  described  as  shown  in  Rogers'  section  from  near 
Jacksonville. 

In  the  absence  of  fossils  it  is  difficult  to  say  precisely  to 
what  geological  epoch  these  rocks  belong.  That  in  the 
main  they  belong  to  the  Calciferous  and  Chazy  horizons  is 
evident.  Whether  the  base  of  No.  II  and  the  upper  por- 
tions of  the  Potsdam  for  mat  ion  are  exposed  in  the  county 
is  a  question  of  some  doubt.  As  I  have  found  no  Potsdam 


FORMATION   NO.  II.  T.  413 

fossils,  and  considering  the  rather  porous  and  friable  na- 
ture of  the  sandstones  exposed  along  the  ridge,  it  seems 
safer  for  the  present  to  regard  all  as  belonging  to  No.  II 

At  Pennsylvania  furnace  an  anticlinal  ridge  may  be 
plainly  seen  where  the  surface  material  has  been  removed 
to  make  mud  dams  for  the  furnace  ore  bank.  Here  the 
arenaceous  limestone  is  horizontal.  On  both  sides  of  it  are 
ample  exposures  of  rocks  dipping  in  both  directions. 

At  the  cut  near  the  depot,  along  Spruce  creek,  and  in  the 
quarry  near  the  ore  bank  are  excellent  exposures  of  rocks 
dipping  from  30°  to  40° >  S.  E.,  evidently  extending  di- 
rectly beneath  Tussey  mountain. 

On  the  railroad,  a  short  distance  northeast  of  the  depot, 
N.W.  dipping  rocks  are  seen  ;  first,  a  low  dip  ;  then  rising  to 
40°  or  50°  ;  so  that  this  anticline  is  very  definitely  located. 

Evidently  the  upper  portion  of  the  same  arenaceous  series 
that  forms  t'he  disintegrated  material  of  the  Barrens  is  ex- 
posed here,  forming  a  sandy,  somewhat  elevated,  tract, 
though  its  extent  is  relatively  small. 

I  have  not  traced  this  ridge  northeastward  ;  but  opposite 
Pine  Grove  it  has  either  entirely  died  out  or  else  merged 
into  the  Chestnut  ridge ;  for  here,  and  two  hundred  rods 
farther  northeast  all  the  exposures  I  have  been  able  to 
find  are  S.  E.  dipping. 

Through  a  wide  region  here  the  rocks  have  a  very  low 
dip. 

Most  of  the  region  lying  between  the  ridges  described 
above  is  of  the  same  general  nature  as  the  Barrens. 

Between  the  two  ridges  opposite  Pennsylvania  furnace  is 
a  local  elevation  known  as  Gatesburg  ridge.  It  lies  just 
southeast  of  Gatesburg,  elevated  above  the  surrounding  re- 
gions about  150  feet.  It  is  of  the  same  sandy  nature  as  the 
other  ridges  described ;  but,  from  dips  on  either  side,  its 
structure  seems  to  be  synclinal.  Aside  from  the  N.  W. 
dipping  rocks  at  the  railroad  described  above,  I  found  ques- 
tionable N.  W.  dips  at  the  southeast  base  of  Gatesburg 
ridge.  Northwest  of  Gatesbnrg  I  found  rocks  dipping 
18°>  S.  10°  E.  and  27°>  S.  30°  E.  Accordingly  the  struc- 


414  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWING. 

ture  is  as  indicated  in  the  section  Fig.  2,  on  page  400.  In 
making  this  interpretation  I  feel  a  difficulty  in  accounting 
for  the  sandy  nature  of  this  ridge. 

The  Brush  Valley  anticline  lies  between  Brush  and  Nit- 
tany  mountains,  considerably  closer  to  the  latter.  It  is  just 
northwest  of  the  main  road,  at  the  extremity  of  Brush 
mountain.  The  dips  rapidly  increase  on  both  sides  of  the 
anticline  to  30°  or  40°  within  £  mile  in  either  direction. 

The  A.  Gregg  ore  bank,  in  Potter  township,  is  in  siliceous 
S.  E.  dipping  rocks,  about  80  rods  from  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  the  anticline  being  between  this  and  the  moun- 
tain. 

Similar  conditions  obtain  on  the  farm  of  J.  S.  Boal,  2£ 
miles  southwest,  in  Harris,  where  dark  blue,  argillaceous 
limestone,  dipping  at  one  place  in  a  sink  76° >  N.  20°  W. 
forms  at  the  base  of  the  mountain  a  terrace  ridge  (just  be- 
low the  Hudson  River  shale  outcrop)  not  over  50  or  80 
rods  in  breadth.  Below  it  comes  in  a  strip  of  land  having 
a  sandstone,  or  freestone  soil,  as  it  is  called  here  and  at 
Centre  Hall. 

This,  as  the  dips  a  short  distance  into  the  valley  indicate, 
represents  the  position  of  the  anticlinal. 

The  arenaceous  nature  of  the  formation  along  this  region 
and  the  very  narrow  extent  of  the  limestone  outcrop  be- 
tween this  and  the  mountain  can  best  be  explained,  it  seems 
to  me,  on  the  supposition  that  a  fault  exists  here,  probably 
at  the  anticlinal. 

In  this  region,  i.  e.,  along  the  road  leading  across  the 
valley  from  Linden  Hall  numerous  exposures  show  only  S. 
E.  dipping  rocks. 

These  dips  vary  from  15°  at  Linden  Hall  to  27°  near  the 
S.  E.  side  of  the  valley.  Accordingly  the  Pe?in  Valley  an- 
ticline proper  and  the  Brush  Mountain  syncline  have  either 
entirely  faded  away  before  reaching  this  point  or  else  have 
become  inconspicuous  and  are  concealed. 

The  Brush  Mountain  anticline  is  plainly  shown  at  a  bend 
in  the  road  following  Cedar  run,  near  8.  Gilliland's  resi- 
dence. Here  horizontal  rocks  are  exposed,  with  rocks  dip- 


FORMATION  NO.  II.  T4.  415 

ping  away  from  them  on  either  side.  While  the  S.  E.  dips 
do  not  exceed  25°,  so  far  as  my  observations  go.  the  N.  W. 
dips  increase  rapidly  to  65°  within  25  or  30  rods.  The  soil 
is  scarcely  sandy  here.  The  material  is  probably  above  the 
lowest  exposed  at  Gregg's  or  at  Boal's.  The  anticline  is 
also  farther  from  the  mountain  than  at  the  above  places. 

This  anticline  shows  a  similar  structure  where  it  crosses 
Spring  creek  near  the  Woolen  factory. 

The  same  anticline,  doubtless,  I  found  in  Slab  Cabin 
branch,  about  100  rods  below  the  entrance  of  Roaring  run. 
Here  horizontal,  arenaceous  limestone  is  exposed  where  the 
foundation  of  a  building  was  being  laid. 

I  have  been  able  to  trace  this  anticline  no  farther ;  still  it 
must  continue,  for  the  Nittany  syncline  is  traceable  into 
the  confines  of  Ferguson  township,  and  the  anticline  is  ne- 
cessary to  again  change  the  dip  of  the  rocks  to  S.  E.  It  is 
probable  that  both  folds  fade  away  soon  after  reaching  Fer- 
guson, as  the  Penn  valley  folds  must  have  faded  in  Potter 
township;  for,  as  stated  above,  a  short  distance  beyond  the 
borders  of  Ferguson  township  only  S.  E.  dipping  rocks  ap- 
pear. 

I  regard  this  anticline  as  in  no  sense  a  continuation  or  re- 
appearance of  the  one  described  at  Pennsylvania  furnace. 
If  I  mistake  not,  the  latter  is  on  a  line  to  the  northwest 
not  only  of  the  one  just  described,  but  also  of  the  line  of 
the  Nittany  synclinal. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  axes  just  described  are  found  large 
quantities  of  iron  ore.  These  ores  evidently  belong  to  a 
horizon  above  those  referred  to  along  the  Nittany  axis. 
The  most  obvious  peculiarity  of  these  ores  is  that  they  are 
usually  found  in  connection  with  the  limestone,  outcrop- 
ping and  dipping  with  it.  There  is  also  a  large  proportion 
of  pipe  ore  in  these  regions.  Its  accompaniments  consist 
more  of  clay  and  less  of  sand  and  flint. 

The  Pennsylvania  Furnace  ore  bank,  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  extensive  in  the  county,  though  not  at  present  in 
operation,  is  just  southeast  of  the  anticline  alluded  to  in 
that  vicinity.  This  opening  extends  about  100  rods  across 


416  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       A.   L.   EWING. 

the  strike  of  the  S.  E.  dipping  rocks.  As  the  dip  is  consid- 
erable (40°  and  less)  it  indicates  that  the  original  iron-bearing 
limestones  of  this  horizen  were  of  great  thickness.  It  is 
important  to  bear  these  points  in  mind  in  attempting  to  de- 
termine the  outcrop  of  this  range  in  other  regions. 

Going  northeast  from  Pennsylvania  Furnace,  the  dip  of 
the  S.  E.  dipping  rocks  decreases,  while  their  breadth  of 
outcrop  correspondingly  increases  ;  so  that  at  the  north- 
easternmost  cross-road  in  Ferguson  the  S.  E.  dips  vary  from 
18°  on  a  hill  S.  E.  of  J.  C.  Crumerine's  to  25°  in  the  vicinity 
of  Tussey  mountain.  Hence,  we  should  expect  to  find  the 
Pennsylvania  Furnace  range  receding  from  the  mountain. 
This  makes  it  impossible,  I  think,  to  ascribe  the  ore  on  the 
farm  of  A.  B.  Ross  to  the  Pennsylvania  Furnace  range,  as 
that  is  nearer  the  mountain  than  the  Pennsylvania  Furnace 
bank. 

It  is  more  probable,  I  think,  that  the  ore  on  the  Weaver 
place  belongs  to  the  Pennsylvania  Furnace  range.  On  the 
cross-road  in  this  vicinity  northwest  of  Weaver's  I  found 
low  S.  E.  dipping  rocks,  10°,  etc.,  but  no  evidence  of  folds. 

The  Johnston  bank  is  a  little  northwest  of  a  line  extend- 
ing from  Pennsylvania  furnace  through  Weaver's  in  S.  E. 
dipping  rocks.  Yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  while  at 
Pennsylvania  furnace  the  rocks  dip  directly  under  Tussey 
mountain,  at  Johnson's  the  fading  Nittany  syncline  and 
Brush  Valley  anticline  intervene  between  the  bank  and 
the  mountain. 

Considering  the  probable  thickness  of  the  ore-bearing 
rocks  at  the  furnace,  and  the  lower  dip  as  we  go  north- 
eastward, it  is  possible  that  many  of  the  ore-shows  in  this 
region  belong  to  the  same  group. 

The  old  openings  on  the  farm  of  William  Foster,  known 
as  the  Cooper  and  Blair  banks,  are  doubtless  above  any  of 
the  banks  mentioned  in  this  vicinity,  as  they  are  directly 
in  line  with  the  Nittany  Mountain  syncline.  The  Cooper 
bank  is  in  S.  E.  dipping  rocks. 

Along  the  Brush  Valley  anticline  are  a  number  of  ore- 
shows.  The  Gregg  bank  has  been  mentioned.  On  J.  S. 


FORMATION  NO.  II.  T4.  417 

Boal's  place  there  is  considerable  ore  under  conditions  so 
nearly  like  those  at  Gregg's  that  it  seems  evident  that  they 
are  in  the  same  range.  Again  on  the  W.  EmericJc  farm, 
near  Center  Hall,  is  another  ore-show  under  very  similar 
conditions.  The  ore  right  of  this  property  was  at  one  time 
leased,  but  the  lease  ran  out  before  work  was  begun. 

The  Stover  bank,  near  Boalsburg,  is  just  northwest  of  the 
Brush  Valley  anticlinal  and  probably  belongs  to  the  same 
range.  Whether  these  belong  to  the  Furnace  horizon  or 
not  I  am  unable  to  say.  I  see  nothing  to  preclude  that 
idea. 

The  upper  beds  of  No.  II  are  found  everywhere  at  the 
base  of  the  mountains,  dipping  beneath  No.  III.  As  the 
lower  strata  of  III  are  generally  arenaceous,  forming  a 
sand y  soil,  the  upper  strata  of  II  are  argillaceous,  forming 
a  distinct  clay  soil.  Between  the  two  formations  are  inter- 
mediate grades  of  loam  usually  verging  into  clay.  The  soil 
is  strong  and  productive,  though  in  many  places  it.  has  not 
been  properly  kept  up. 

The  upper  strata  of  No.  II  are  dark  blue  in  color,  show- 
ing good  joints  in  places  and  containing  large  quantities  of 
good  lime-producing  stone.  The  color  of  the  limestone 
probably  results  from  the  presence  of  organic  matter. 

The  stone  contains  in  many  places  cracks  filled  with  pure 
white  calcium  carbonate.  White  calcium  carbonate  crys- 
tals are  quite  common. 

On  Jacob  Bahrrer's  farm  near  Buffalo  Run,  in  Patton 
township,  is  a  quarry  composed  entirely  of  white  crystalline' 
limestone  or  marble.  At  one  time  this  was  quarried, 
drawn  to  Hollidaysburg,  and  used  for  making  gravestones. 
It  makes  an  excellent  flux  for  the  manufacture  of  fine  qual- 
ities of  iron. 

This  is  near  the  central  portion  of  the  series. 

Quartz  crystals  are  found  in  the  limestone  in  places  ;  but 
more  often  in  the  soil  where  limestone  has  dissolved.  Horn- 
stone  concretions  and  flint  bowlders  are  quite  common 
throughout  the  formation. 

The  upper  portion  of  No.  II  corresponds  to  the  Trenton 
27  T4. 


418  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWING. 

formation  of  N.  Y.,  as  is  shown  by  the  fossils.  Like  the 
other  parts  of  the  formation,  it  contains  iron  ore,  though  to 
a  much  less  extent. 

Cavern  deposit  of  iron  ore. 

On  Sinking  creek,  as  it  rounds  Egg  hill,  in  Potter  town- 
ship, on  the  Wagner  place  (A.  Kerr  in  county  atlas),  is  an 
exposure  of  ore  quite  unique  in  many  respects.  Tlie  ore 
occupies  caverns  eroded  out  of  the  limestone.  In  this  ex- 
posure most  of  the  limestone  is  left  intact.  Tiie  ore  that 
has  been  removed  has  been  taken  from  openings  into  the 
solid  mass  where  erosion  has  removed  the  material  from 
one  side.  Even  there  it  is  necessary  to  remove  large  quan- 
tities of  limestone  in  order  to  get  the  ore.  Large  masses 
of  pipe  ore  are  found,  with  lump  ore,  bomb-shell  ore,  and 
wash  ore.  Most  of  the  ore  taken  out  has  been  removed  from 
one  large  triangular  space,  having  sides  about  20  feet  in  ex- 
tent, and  a  depth  of  15  feet,  one  side  forming  an  opening 
from  the  bank  of  the  creek-bed.  Besides  this,  several 
small  test-holes,  drift,  and  slant  openings  have  been  made. 
Those  within  a  range  covering  not  more  than  20  or  25  feet 
in  thickness  of  rocks  strike  ore  of  the  same  character  ; 
those  out  of  this  range  show  but  little  ore.  The  ore  is 
found  in  the  worn  joints  imbedded  in  a  tenaceous  red  or 
yellow  clay. 

As  pipe  ores  are  undoubtedly  formed  by  the  evaporation 
of  chalybeate  waters,  which  percolate  through  the  mass, 
one  might  expect  to  find  in  a  place  like  this  evidence  as  to 
the  time  of  the  formation  of  these  pipes. 

The  fact  that  all  are  broken  off — none  being  attached  to 
the  limestone — implies  that  they  were  formed  at  a  suffi- 
ciently remote  period  for  subsequent  waters  to  dissolve 
away  the  attachments. 

The  fact  that  the  pipes  are  straight  and  generally  par- 
allel, implies  that  they  were  formed  while  the  rocks  were 
stationary,  and  not  during  a  gradual  upheaval. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  they  were  formed  while  the  rocks 
were  in  their  original  horizontal  position  ;  hence,  it  is  alto- 
gether probable  that  they  were  formed  after  the  Appa- 


FORMATION  NO.  II.  T*.  419 

lachian  upheaval,  and  while  the  rocks  were  in  their  present 
position. 

One  very  interesting  specimen  from  this  region  has  one 
of  the  pipes  at  an  angle  of  40°  with  the  rest.  I  think  it 
probable  that  in  this  case  the  pipe  had  broken  in  falling, 
and  had  been  cemented  by  subsequent  depositions  of 
the  same  material,  as  there  is  abundant  evidence  of  later 
depositions  in  thread-like  pipes  at  right  angles  with  the 
larger  ones. 

As  previous^  remarked,  the  probable  condition  of  the 
ore  while  in  solution,  and  at  the  time  of  deposition,  was 
that  of  a  ferrous  carbonate.  It  is  probable  that  oxidation 
began  at  the  time  of,  or  soon  after,  deposition.  When  the 
deposition  was  rapid,  masses  of  carbonate  and  semi-car- 
bonate were  doubtless  formed,  which  have  subsequently 
been  oxidized. 

Evidence  of  this  is  seen  in  the  larger  masses  found,  es- 
pecially here,  of  ore  containing  cavities,  giving  it  a  porous 
appearance,  often  called  bomb-sbell  ore;*  for  as  the  car- 
bonate of  a  low  specific  gravity  changes  to  the  oxide  of  a 
higher  specific  gravity  there  is  a  loss  in  volume.  The  change 
naturally  beginning  from  without  forms  concentric  layers 
of  the  oxide  and  leaves  cavities  within.  Even  the  pipe  ore 
is  more  or  less  porous. 

The  rocks  in  which  this  ore  is  found  dip  45°  S.  E. 

Thirty  rods  to  the  northeast,  across  the  creek,  there  is  an 
exposure  evidently  in  the  same  range. 

A  few  rods  from  this,  in  a  quarry  by  the  lime-kiln,  Tren- 
ton fossils  were  found ;  and  a  short  distance  across  the 
strike  from  the  ore  bank  (not  over  40  rods)  come  in  the 
shales  of  No.  Ill,  dipping  about  80°;  so  that  this  ore  is 
within  300  or  400  feet  of  the  top  of  the  Trenton  limestone 
formation. 

The  extent  of  exposure  of  this  ferriferous  horizon  along 
the  strike  of  the  rocks  is  not  over  40  rods.  I  am  not  aware 
that  it  has  been  sought  outside  of  these  limits. 

This  ore  belongs  to  a  horizon  above  any  of  No.  II  that  I 

"Arner.  Jour.  Soi.,  3d  Series,  Vol.  XXVII,  p.  205i ;  also  Canadian  Natural- 
1st,  Vol.  IX,  p.  434. 


420  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWING. 

know  of  in  this  county.  It  is  similar  in  character  to  that 
found  on  the  J^oss  farm,  in  Ferguson  township  ;  yet  it  is 
clearly  above  that.  In  this  case  the  ore  may  have  been 
brought  down  by  percolating  water  from  rocks  above,  pos- 
sibly from  the  shales  of  No.  III. 

JjJrosion  by  solution. 

To  comprehend  the  nature  of  a  great  portion  of  the  ero- 
sion which  has  taken  place  in  this  region,  producing  the 
present  surface  features,  it  is  necessary  to  take  into  account 
the  chemical  action  of  water  on  our  limestones.  This  can- 
not be  done  better  than  by  considering  the  chemical  compo- 
sition of  the  water  of  this  region  at  the  present  day.  There- 
fore, I  give  below  a  partial  analysis  (made  by  Professor  Jor- 
den  of  State  College)  of  water  taken  from  the  State  College 
well,  173  feet  deep,  bored  through  the  middle  or  lower  di- 
visions of  formation  No.  II.  The  water  was  drawn  from  a 
tap  in  the  chemical  laboratory  : 

Solids — Grams  per  liter, 

No.  1, 2218  grams. 

"2, 2255   " 

"3, 2240   " 

"4, 2235   » 

"5,  2347   " 

"6, 2340   " 


Average,  .   . 


Si.O2, 2.63  per  cent. 

SO3, 1.69 

CaO, [lime]  .   .    .  25.30 

MgO, [magnesia]  .   .    .  18.66 

Alkalies 1.60 

FE203+A1203+P205, 30 

Cl., 2.20 

CO,, 36.34 

Undetermined,      [carbonic  acid]      .  11.28 

100.00        " 

Nos.  5  and  6,  which  give  the  greatest  amount  of  solids, 
were  taken  after  considerable  pumping  had  been  done,  and 
probably  contained  a  small  amount  of  sediment. 

It  is  seen  at  once  that  most  of  the  solid  material  is  CaO, 
MgO,  and  CO2 ;  and  that  a  very  considerable  amount  of 


FORMATION  NO.  II.  T\  421 

these  are  to  be  found  in  each  liter  of  water.  But  these  are 
the  substances  that  form  the  essential  part  of  our  lime- 
stones and  dolomites.  It  is  clear  that  waters  percolating 
through  these  rocks,  becoming  laden  with  their  constitu- 
ents, then  bearing  them  to  the  ocean,  must,  in  time,  pro- 
duce a  marked  effect.  We  have  further  evidence  that  the 
above-named  constituents  come  from  the  rocks  themselves  ; 
in  many  places  the  rocks  are  seen  to  be  porous,  parts  having 
been  dissolved  away.  This  is  well  shown  in  the  State  Col- 
lege well-core  alluded  to  before. 

Erosion,  once  started  by  the  chemical  action  of  water,  per- 
mits the  formation  of  subterranean  currents,  which  greatly 
augment  the  process,  in  places,  by  the  mechanical  action  of 
running  water.  The  natural  result  of  these  activities  must 
be  a  honey-combed  structure  of  the  underlying  limestone, 
permitting  surface  water  to  descend,  and,  in  places,  a  break- 
ing away  and  caving  in  of  the  superincumbent  mass,  form- 
ing sink  holes. 

These  phenomena  are  all  to  be  found  in  the  region  un- 
der consideration.  Sinking  streams  are  abundant.  It  is 
almost  the  rule  and  not  the  exception  that  each  stream 
sinks  and  rises  before  leaving  the  valley.  Many  of  the 
springs  are  doubtless  the  rising  of  underground  streams  to 
the  surface. 

Along  or  near  the  more  prominent  anticlines  there  is  a 
paucity  of  surface  streams.  Water  is  found  only  by  sink- 
ing deep  wells  ;  hence  rain  water  is  generally  used. 

Sink  holes  are  common.  In  places  the  cavernous  nature 
of  the  limestone  is  finely  exhibited  in  caves,  a  number  of 
which  are  accessible  in  this  county. 

A  cave  in  Gregg  township. 

One  cave  only  I  will  allude  to  which  not  only  shows  the 
nature  of  the  rest  and  illustrates  the  probable  condition  of 
much  of  the  limestone  beneath  the  floor  of  the  valley,  but 
also  shows  the  essential  structure  of  all  limestone  caves. 
It  lies  in  Gregg  township,  about  one  mile  west  of  the  end 
of  Brush  Mountain.  It  is  in  dark  blue  limestone,  having  a 
S.  E.  dip  of  about  43.  °,  probably  belonging  near  the  middle 


422  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWING. 

of  Formation  No.  II.  The  entrance  is  from  a  deep  sink. 
It  extends  along  the  strike  of  the  rocks  and  contains  deep, 
clear  water.  It  is  sufficiently  large  to  allow  navigation  in 
a  large  row-boat.  Its  height  in  places  is  20  or  30  feet,  and 
its  breadth  about  the  same.  The  roof  of  the  cave  is  formed 
for  the  most  part  by  one  thick  stratum  of  limestone.  In 
places,  however,  this  has  fallen  away,  leaving  exposed  the 
strata  above. 

The  cave  extends  1200  feet  beneath  the  surface.  At  the 
far  end  the  rocks  dip  in  a  more  easterly  direction,  so  that 
the  roof  comes  down  to  the  surface  of  the  water.  About 
300  feet  in.  the  cave  divides  into  two  parts,  one  wet,  the 
other  dry,  the  same  stratum  forming  the  roof  of  both. 

The  side  toward  which  the  rocks  dip  contains  the  water, 
the  more  open  side  apparently  having  its  bottom  filled  by 
the  debris  fallen  from  above.  The  two  arms  are  separated 
by  a  natural  partition  of  uneroded  rocks. 

The  dry  cave  may  be  reached  by  another  sink  in  line  with 
the  opening  alluded  to. 

Within  the  cave  are  stalagmites  and  stalactites  of  every 
variety  of  form. 

About  80  feet  from  the  far  end  of  the  cave  is  a  deep  ra- 
vine, and  the  Fathomless  Spring  known  as  the  source  of 
Penn's  Creek.  As  the  water  in  the  spring  stands  at  the 
same  level  as  that  in  the  cave,  the  two  are  probably  con- 
nected ;  and  the  cave  is  no  doubt  only  one  section  of  a 
much  larger  system  of  underground  drainage  ;  for,  a  short 
distance  nearly  west  of  the  cave,  a  stream  sinks  beneath 
the  surface,  and  is  probably  identical  with  that  which  ap- 
pears as  Penn'  s  Creek. 

Big  hollow;  an  ancient  water  way. 

Several  beds  of  ancient  streams  are  noticeable  in  this  lo- 
cality. One  of  the  most  extensive  of  these  appears  to  orig- 
inate near  Johnston' s  ore  bank.  Here  several  indistinct 
depressions  converge  into  one  ravine  which  crosses  the  road 
passing  north-east  of  Sf ruble' s  bank .  The  Bellefonte  and 
Bufffalo  Run  RR.  grade  follows  this  ravine  to  the  curve 
near  Thompson's,  where  a  branch  ravine  joins  it;  which 


FORMATION  NO.  II.  T4.  423 

the  grade  follows  upward,  diagonally,  through  the  Barrens. 
This  ravine  is  traceable  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Pond  bank. 

The  main  ravine,  known  as  Big  hollow,  continues  in  a 
sinuous  course  north-eastward  until  it  reaches  Spring  creek, 
one  mile  below  Houserville.  Big  hollow  has  a  distinct  course 
of  about  five  miles  ;  its  banks  are  in  places  from  50  to  100 
feet  high,  here  sloping  and  gradual,  there  steep  and  pre- 
cipitous. As  in  the  case  of  real  river  channels,  the  steep 
banks  are  on  the  inside  of  the  curves. 

The  whole  topography  of  Big  hollow  indicates  that  it  is 
the  bed  of  an  ancient  stream.  An  extensive  area  slopes  to- 
ward this  ravine.  Several  smaller  ones  join  it  on  its  course, 
yet  I  know  of  no  evidence  that  water  has  flowed  through 
it  since  the  first  settlement  of  Centre  county  ;  but  I  have 
found  numerous  sink-holes  along  the  channel  ;  and  gravel 
deposits  and  other  debris  in  the  vicinity  of  some  of  them 
indicate  that  large  quantities  of  water  have  flowed  into 
them  in  times  of  freshet ;  and  this  makes  it  probable  that 
there  exists  beneath  the  Big  hollow  an  underground  chan- 
nel joining  Spring  creek. 

Fossils  of  No.  II. 

Few  fossils  are  found  in  the  lower  portions  of  No.  II,  and 
those  found  are  mostly  fragmentary  and  indistinct. 

In  the  State  College  collection  there  are  specimens  of 
graptolites  presumably  from  No.  II  in  this  vicinity ;  also 
very  fair  specimens  of  Maclurea  magna  labled  "Centre 
Co."  ;  the  latter  is  of  dolomitic  limestone  and  contains 
chert  and  fine  quartz  crystals. 

Near  the  lower  part  of  No.  II,  I  have  found  numerous 
specimens  of  a  Gasteropod,  probably  Pleurotomaria,  but  it 
answers  to  no  description  that  I  have  at  hand.  The  col- 
umella  is  short,  and  it  has  5  or  6  whorls  with  a  very  gradual 
increase  in  size  from  the  apex.  I  found  the  same  form  in 
limestone  outcropping  in  Jackson's  ore  bank  near  Belle- 
fonte.  Fragments  of  a  few  other  Gasteropods  are  found, 
but  not  complete  enough  for  determination. 

Throughout  the  upper  half  of  the  rocks  fossils  are  found, 
sparingly  in  most  places.  But  in  other  places  towards  the 


424  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWING. 

top  of  the  series  strata  are  found  composed  almost  entirely 
of  fossil  remains.  These  fossils  correspond  to  the  Tren- 
ton forms.  I  have  been  able  to  determine  the  following 
genera  and  species,  some  with  reasonable  certainty,  while 
of  others  there  is  doubt. 

Scliizocr inus  nodosus — stem  s . 

Streptelasma  corniculum — heads. 

Orthis  testudinaria — very  common  above. 

0.  tricenaria. 

0.  pectenalinea  f 

0.  lynx  f — a  part  of  one  specimen. 

0.  subequalis. 

StropTiomena  alternata — very  common  above. 

Leptaena  sericea — common  above. 

Lingula  curia — one  specimen. 

Pleurotomaria  lenticularis. 

P.  f 

Murchisonia  gracilis. 

Leperditia. 

Trinucleus  concentricus. 

Galymene  —  f 

Cliaetetes  ly  coper  don— common  above. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  localities  at  which  Trenton 
fossils  may  be  found  : 

On  the  road  between  Lemont  and  Oak  Hall,  in  both  N. 
W.  and  S.  E.  dipping  rocks  ; 

On  the  creek  below  bridge,  at  Pine  Grove. 

On  the  road,  two  miles  E.  of  Boalsburg. 

At  Matternville,  in  rocks  joining  No.  Ill  and  above  ; 

Between  Bellefonte  and  Milesburg. 


Formation  No.  III.    Hudson  River  and  Utica  Slate. 

The  rocks  of  this  formation  are  found  bordering  the  val- 
leys described  under  formation  No.  II,  and  extending  into 
the  mountains,  whose  bases  they  form.  They  consist  of 
black,  carbonaceous,  fissile  shales  below,  grading  into  slaty, 
arenaceous  shales  above.  I  have  made  no  attempt  to  dis- 


FORMATION   NO.  III.  T4.  425 

tinguish  between  the  two  groups  as  recognized  in  the  State 
of  New  York. 

The  formation  produces  a  light  clay  loam  soil,  which  has  a 
very  good  reputation  among  farmers  for  productiveness ; 
yet  it  is  not  regarded  as  so  strong  a  soil  as  that  formed 
from  No.  II.  It  has  not  been  cultivated  as  long,  hence  it 
has  not  been  put  to  so  thorough  a  test,  Cultivated  fields 
of  this  soil  may  be  seen  in  places  extending  half  way  up 
the  mountains. 

No.  Ill  is  exposed  in  most  of  the  mountain  gaps,  though 
many  of  these  outcrops  are  meager,  offering  but  little 
opportunity  for  studying  the  formation.  The  S.  E.  dip- 
ping outcrops  usually  incline  from  25°  to  40°,  while  the  N. 
W.  dips  are  from  50°  to  vertical.  At  Matternville  there  is 
an  extensive  exposure  of  these  shales.  Here  the  base  of 
the  formation  may  be  seen,  in  Buffalo  run,  grading  through 
calcareous  layers  into  the  Trenton  limestone.  In  this  I 
found  fossils  common  to  the  Trenton  and  Utica. 

There  are  exposures  here,  for  a  distance  of  about  600 
feet,  of  shales,  dipping  80°  to  85°  N.  W.  The  uppermost 
of  these  may  be  seen  behind  a  blacksmith-shop  near  the 
mountain.  It  is  a  light  drab,  sandy  shale,  containing  a 
few  fossils.  The  upper  surface  of  the  formation  is  not  ex- 
posed, but  from  what  may  be  seen  here.  I  should  estimate 
the  thickness  at  800  feet  or  upwards. 

In  Nittany  mountain,  between  Lemont  and  Oak  Hall, 
the  No.  Ill  shales  may  be  seen,  at  first  having  a  dip  of  23° 
>E.  30°  S..  then  apparently  at  the  trough  of  the  syncline 
having  a  N.  E.  dip  of  only  about  10°.  A  little  further  on 
there  is  a  N.  W.  inclination  of  12°,  with  no  further  expo- 
sure until  the  Trenton  limestone  is  reached,  which  dips  64° 
N.  W.  These  shales  are  drab  in  color  and  sandy,  probably 
belonging  to  the  upper  portion  of  the  formation.  The 
north-easterly  dip  noticeable  here  indicates  the  shoaling  up 
of  the  Nittany  syncline. 

At  the  south-west  extremity  of  the  Egg  Hill  syncline  No. 
Ill  is  exposed  from  its  union  with  No.  II  (near  a  church) 


426  T.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       A.  L.  EWING. 

along  the  end  of  the  mountain  for  a  distance  of  at  least  40 
rods.  The  dip  varies  here  from  80°  >S.  E.  at  its  lowest  por- 
tian  to  nearly  horizontal.  There  are  few  fossils  at  this  ex- 
posure. 

At  Spring  Mills  there  are  good  exposures  at  the  Spring 
Mills  house,  and  in  the  railroad  cut,  of  low,  S.  E.  dipping 
clay  and  sandy  shales,  showing  well  the  character  of  the 
formation. 

On  the  road  south-east  of  Egg  hill  maybe  found  Trenton 
fossils  and  shaly  limestone,  indicating  the  transition  be- 
tween II  and  III. 

All  along  up  the  side  of  the  mountain  the  outcrops  of  No. 
Ill  may  be  found. 

At  a  point  320  feet  above  Spring  Mills,  and  again  80  feet 
above  this,  fossiliferous  outcrops  occur,  having  a  dip  of  20° 
>N.  W.  With  this  shale  are  layers  of  impure  limestone. 

The  top  of  Egg  hill  is  by  barometer  625  feet  higher  than 
Spring  Mills,  and  seems  to  be  composed  largely  of  No.  Ill 
shales. 

Near  Pleasant  Gap  village  is  an  exposure  of  weathering 
No.  Ill  shales,  showing  numerous  fossil  casts. 

Near  the  gap  between  Jacksonville  and  Howard  are  sev- 
eral exposures  of  No.  Ill  shales.  The  rocks  in  this  region 
are  probably  overturned,  as  the  Trenton  limestones  dip  from 
>80°  or  85°  >S.  E.  at  the  Jacksonville  quarries  to  50°  >S.  E. 
nearer  the  mountain.  Still  closer  to  the  mountain  is  a  S.  E. 
dip  of  32°  in  No.  Ill  shale.  Near  the  base  of  the  mountain 
is  a  tough,  carbonaceous  and  calcareous  shale,  having  a  dip 
of  60°  >S  30°  E. 

On  the  road  near  the  J.  Hoy  house,  but  little  nearer  the 
mountain,  the  shale  has  a  N.  W.  dip  of  78°.  Again  at  the 
base  of  the  mountain  shales  holding  fossils  similar  to  those 
found  on  Egg  hill  dip  82°  >N.  30  W.  This  is  doubtless  near 
the  upper  surface  of  the  formation,  as  within  15  rods  of  this, 
at  the  Flour  mill,  the  Oneida  gray  sandstone  crops  out  with 
a  similar  dip. 

The  above  low  south-east  dips  in  this  region  are  quite  ab- 


FORMATION  NO.  IV.  T4.  427 

normal.      As  I  am  not  aware  whether  they  are  local,  I  will 
offer  no  explanation. 

Fossils  in  No.  III. 

The  following  fossils  occur  in  this  formation  in  Centre 
county : 

Glyptowinus  decadactylus— stems. 

Orthls  testudinaria. 
j     O.  subquadrata  (?}  cast. 

0.  (Sp.  ?) 

Slrophomena  alternata. 

Leptcena  sericea. 

Bellerophon  bilobatus. 

MurcJiisonia  gracilis. 

Modiolopsis  modiomorpha. 

M.  curta. 

Ambonychia  radiata. 

Orthonota. 

Trinucleus  concentricus. 

Callimene  Beckii. 

C.     (Sp.f) 

Orthoceras. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  most  of  these  forms  are  found  also 
in  the  Trenton  limestones. 


Formation  No  IV.     Oneida  and  Medina  Sandstone. 

The  rocks  of  this  group  lie  above  No.  Ill,  and  form  the 
greater  part  of  all  the  mountains  in  the  region  under  dis- 
cussion. The  most  extensive  exposures  in  the  county  are 
at  Bellefonte,  at  Pleasant  gap,  and  at  Washington  gap. 
Isolated  ledges  and  cliffs  are  quite  common  at  the  various 
gaps.  The  Bald  Eagle  ridge  is  monoclinal,  while  the  vari- 
ous other  ridges  are  synclinal  in  structure.  The  triple  di- 
vision of  No.  IV  is  most  easily  recognized  in  the  Bald  Eagle 
mountain.  Here  the  strata  incline  from  70°  to  vertical. 

Lying  next  to  No.  Ill  is  the  Oneida  gray  sandstone  form- 
ing the  inside  or  terrace  ridge.  This  stone  is  of  coarsish 
texture,  gray,  and  often  contains  iron-stained  pits.  It  may 


428  T.  KEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWING. 

usually  be  recognized  even  when  found  in  floating  frag- 
ments. The  Oneida  ridge  is  usually  subordinate  in  height 
to  the  main  crest,  but  in  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain  is  of 
about  the  same  height,  or  in  places  even  higher. 

The  second  ridge  or  crest  is  formed  by  the  Upper  Medina 
white  sandstone  ;  a  finer-grained,  more  compact  sandstone. 
It  is  lighter  in  color,  often  of  a  greenish  tinge.  The  Bald 
Eagle  mountain  has  its  north-west  side  covered  with  bowl- 
ders mostly  of  this  division. 

Between  the  two  ridges  is  the  Lower  Medina,  softer,  argil- 
laceous sandstone,  with  layers  of  shale.  The  narrow  valley 
between  the  ridges  is  formed  by  the  disintegration  of  this 
division.  In  places  the  bed  extends  to  the  top  of  the  crest. 
This  valley  is  generally  cultivated.  There  is  evidently  suf- 
ficient clay  in  the  sandstone  to  form  a  fair  soil.  Standing 
in  the  center  of  this  valley  one  can  readily  distinguish  be- 
tween the  red  soil  on  the  north-west  Medina  slope  and  the 
lighter  soil  on  the  south-east  Oneida  slope. 

Throughout  the  district  the  Medina  crests  are  much  less 
broken  than  the  Oneida  terraces,  the  drainage  being  through 
the  numerous  gaps  in  the  latter.  Near  these  gaps  erratic 
bowlders  of  No.  IV may  be  seen  strewn  for  some  distance 
into  the  limestone  valleys.  It  is  evident  that  in  some  past 
time  torrents  have  rushed  through  these  gaps  over  the  beds 
now  occupied  by  our  modest  streams. 

In  the  Mttany  syncline  there  are  but  two  ridges  south- 
west of  Pleasant  gap,  while  normally  there  is  the  double 
ridge  on  either  side  of  the  trough.  The  explanation  of  this 
is  that  the  part  forming  the  crests  (the  Medina  white)  has 
been  carried  away,  leaving  only  the  Oneida  gray,  forming 
the  ridges,  with  the  Medina  red  between. 

In  pleasant  gap  there  is  a  quarry  in  Medina  red,  from 
which  very  good  flagging  stone  is  taken. 

Nittany  mountain  near  its  terminus  (north-west  ridge) 
rises  2000  feet  above  sea  level,  Lemont,  at  its  base,  being 
1000  feet. 

Bald  knob,  near  Boalsburg,  is  2200'  A.  T.  These  are 
among  the  highest  points  in  the  county. 

Bald  Eagle  mountain  is  about  1700'  in  the  region  of  Julian. 


FORMATION  NO.  V.  T4.  429 

I  know  of  but  one  fossil  found  in  No.  IV  in  this  county, 
the  sea-weed  ArtTiropJiycus  Harlani,  found  in  the  Medina 
white  sandstone. 


Formation.  No.  V.     Clinton  Group. 

This  formation  is  found  in  Bald  Eagle  valley  lying 
against  the  mountain  and  reaching  one  half  or  two  thirds 
way  to  the  top.  Its  limit  may  usually  be  seen  below  the 
steep  rocky  slope  of  the  crest  where  the  more  luxuriant 
vegetation  ends. 

So  far  as  I  know  there  is  but  one  exposure  of  the  Clinton 
formation  in  the  county  offering  opportunity  for  its  study  ; 
that  is  at  Howard.  Here,  at  the  base  of  the  Bald  Eagle 
mountain,  the  Clinton  is  exposed  in  two  places,  with  an  in- 
terval of  about  20  rods  between  them.  These  exposures 
show  black  fissile  and  olive  shales  with  sandy  and  calcareous 
layers.  Near  the  lowest  part  of  the  exposure  is  a  thin  stra- 
tum of  fossil  iron  ore,  which  was  mined  on  a  small  scale 
sometime  ago.  Fragments  of  the  ore  are  to  be  found  at  pre- 
sent. These  shales  have  a  dip  of  85°  N.,  20°  W.  Fossils 
were  found  in  places  in  both  the  upper  and  lower  part  of 
the  exposure  ;  Ortliis,  Atrypa,  StropJiomena,-  etc. 

Near  the  base  of  the  mountain,  at  Port  Matilda,  200  feet 
above  the  railroad,  I  found  calcareous  shale  having  a  S.  E. 
dip  of  30°,  and  probably  belonging  to  No.  V.  The  water 
in  the  stream  in  which  this  was  found  had  formed  an  in- 
crustation of  calcareous  material  over  the  stones  in  its  bed. 
In  another  place  near  this  I  found  a  similar  shale  having  a 
like  dip.  The  abnormal  dip  is  probably  owing  to  a  minor 
flexure. 

The  so-called  "Paint  springs"  in  this  region  probably 
flow  either  from  red  shale  of  No.  Y  or  from  its  fossil  iron 
ore. 


Formation  No.   VI.     Lower  Helderberg  &c.  limestone. 

The  rocks  of  this  formation  form  a  narrow  belt  along  the 
base  of  the  Bald  Eagle  mountain,  overlapping  No.  Y.      In 


430  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWING. 

places  the  position  of  No.  VI  is  indicated  by  a  terrace  ridge, 
but  for  the  most  part  this  is  quite  inconspicuous.  Expo- 
sures are  rare.  There  are  a  number  of  old  openings  where 
No.  VI  was  quarried  in  time  of  the  charcoal  furnaces,  but 
these  serve  only  to  point  out  the  locality  of  the  formation 
and  afford  loose  fragments  of  the  stone.  There  are  quar- 
ries at  Unionville,  at  Milesburg  and  at  Curtin's.  These  ex- 
hibit a  rather  poor  argillaceous  limestone,  in  places  con- 
taining horn -stone. 

At  Unionville  the  dip  is  74°  S.  E.  The  rocks  contain 
weathered  fossils,  Atrypa  reticularis,  Corals,  etc.,  and  the 
formation  forms  a  ridge. 

At  Milesburg,  on  the  south-west  side  of  Spring  creek,  No. 
VI  dips  >34°  N.  25°  W.  in  an  old  quarry,  and  70°,  N.  W. 
along  the  railroad  nearer  the  mountain. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  village  in  the  quarry  the  dip  is 
25°,  N.  W. 

Towards  Curtin's  there  are  outcrops  showing  a  dip  of  45°, 
N.  W.  to  80°,  N.  W. 

The  following  fossils  occur :  Atrypa  reticularis,  Stropho- 
mena  rugosa,  Spirifer  perlamellosa  (f)  Trematospira  (/), 
Zaphrentis,  Corals. 


Formation  No.  VII.     Oriskany  Sandstone. 

This  formation  is  very  peculiar  and  irregular  in  its  dips 
in  Centre  county.  The  southernmost  exposure  I  have 
found  is  between  Julian  and  Martha.  Here  on  John  B. 
Mattern's  farm  is  a  wooded  ridge  presenting  on  its  south- 
east side  a  precipitous  ledge  of  Oriskany  calcareous  sand- 
stone. 

The  rocks  containing  some  of  the  characteristic  fossils  of 
this  group,  indicate  a  thickness  of  60  or  70  feet.  They  dip 
20°,  N.  W.  This  ridge  is  about  40  rods  in  length  and  com- 
pels the  creek  to  wind  around  it,  passing  between  the  ridge 
and  the  mountain.  This  ridge  does  not  reappear  in  either 
direction. 

Between  Julian  and  Unionville  there  is  a  quarry  known 


FORMATION  NO.  VII.  T4.  431 

as  the  Alexander  quarry,  located  half  way  up  a  terrace 
ridge  120  feet  above  the  creek.  Some  of  the  layers  are  hard 
siliceous  limestone,  and  have  been  burned  for  lime.  Others 
consist  of  coarse  grains  of  sand,  cemented  by  calcium  car- 
bonate. On  being  treated  with  acid  this  completely  disin- 
tegrates, leaving  only  the  loose  grains  of  sand.  The  mate- 
rial of  this  quarry  has  a  S.  E.  dip  of  45°.  On  the  top  of 
this  same  terrace,  250  feet  above  the  creek  and  about  12 
rods  nearer  the  mountain,  is  another  quarry  in  vertical 
strata  of  the  same  general  nature  as  that  just  described 
Both  openings  contain  the  ordinary  Oriskany  fossils,  but 
from  the  lower,  more  sandy  rocks  I  found  most  of  the  fol- 
lowing fossils:  Merista  lata,  Spirifer  arrectus,  S.  areno- 
sus,  Rensselceria  ovoides,  E.  suessana,  Ortliis  muscu- 
losa  (?),  Sirophomena. 

Between  the  two  outcrops  mentioned  above  and  quite 
near  the  lower  is  S.  E.  dipping  shale  with  calcareous  layers, 
in  which  I  found  a  Discina,  the  cast  of  an  Ortliis  and  a 
Strophomena.  Although  these  specimens  were  too  badly 
weathered  to  admit  of  specific  determination,  their  genera* 
appearance  indicates  that  they  belong  above  the  Oriskany. 
Accordingly,  the  explanation  of  the  conditions  described 
above  is  that  there  is  a  sharp  synclinal  fold  in  this  region. 
The  only  other  explanation  admissible  is  that  there  is  an 
overturn  here ;  that  the  lower  quarry  consists  of  the  over- 
turned Oriskany,  while  that  above  belongs  to  No.  VI  This 
interpretation  is  contrary  to  lithological  and  palseontologi- 
cal  evidence.  Whatever  explanation  answers  for  this  lo- 
cality would  also  probably  explain  the  abnormal  dip  in  the 
No.  YI  quarry  at  Unionville. 

At  Milesburg  No.  VII  is  seen  beneath  the  railroad  bridge 
in  Bald  Eagle  creek,  having  a  N.  W.  dip  of  25°.  Again 
near  Cm-tin's  it  is  exposed  in  a  small  hill  with  normal  dip, 
and  is  a  ferriferous,  coarse  grained  sand,  with  weathered 
casts  of  fossils. 

At  Howard,  where  material  has  been  removed  to  build 
dams  for  the  Lauth  foundry,  I  found  thin  ledges  of  lime- 
stone, probably  No.  VI,  having  a  dip  of  30°  >N.  15°  W. 
Four  rods  north  of  this  is  a  thin  ledge  of  calcareous  sand- 


432  T4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      A.  L.  EWING. 

stone,  doubtless  belonging  to  VII,  having  a  dip  of  60°  >N. 
Along  the  old  canal,  about  f  miles  northwest  of  the  village, 
is  a  prominent  ridge  of  sandstones,  similar  to  the  above, 
dipping  from  55°  to  80°,  S.  E.  Between  these  two  points 
the  material  is  shale,  forming  the  soil  beneath  Howard  vil- 
lage. Apparently  there  is  a  syncline  in  this  region  forming 
a  sub-plateau,  crowding  the  Bald  Eagle  creek  out  into  the 
valley.  I  found  no  Oriskany  fossils  in  this  locality. 


Formation  No.  VIII,  a.      Upper  Helderberg  group. 

The  extensive  outcrop  of  No.  VIII  forms  the  floor  of  the 
greater  part  of  Bald  Eagle  valley.  The  lower  part  of  the 
formation  is  to  a  great  extent  covered  by  river  deposit  along 
the  Bald  Eagle  creek  flats,  hence  opportunities  for  its  study 
are  rare.  Back  from  this  the  rocks  of  the  Hamilton  period 
in  part  and  of  the  Chemung  period  form  monoclinal  ridges 
parallel  with  the  valley.  Numerous  cross  valleys  divide 
these  ridges  into  more  or  less  isolated  hills. 


No.  VIII,  b.     Hamilton  group. 

Two  miles  south-west  of  Unionville  in  the  bed  of  Bald 
Eagle  creek  is  an  extensive  outcrop  of  black  carbonaceous 
shale  and  shaly  limestone,  having  a  dip  of  40°  >N.  25°  W. 
Tins  material  in  a  fresh  condition  has  a  smell  resembling 
crude  petroleum.  Some  of  the  layers  are  very  fossiliferous, 
but  the  forms  are  fragmentary  and  difficult  of  identifica- 
tion. Orthls  limitaris,  a  Spirifer,  a  Slrophomena  and  Ten- 
taculites  are  among  the  fossils  of  these  rocks.  There  is  a 
quarry  in  No.  VI  between  this  opening  and  the  mountains. 
These  rocks  probably  belong  to  the  Marcellus.  I  know  of 
no  other  exposure  of  the  Marcellus  in  the  county. 

Along  the  road  at  the  foot  of  the  first  range  of  hills  are 
numerous  outcrops  of  Hamilton  rocks.  The  lowest  por- 
tions seen  consist  of  a  black  fissile  shale,  often  iron  stained. 
Above  these  are  calcareous  shales  grading  into  limestone. 
In  the  eastern  portion  of  the  county  the  limestones  pre- 


NO    VIII,   C.       CHEMUNG  GROUP.  T.  433 

dominate.  The  fissile  shale  seems  to  contain  no  fossils. 
Above  are  Tropidoleplus  carinatus,  Atrypa  reticularis, 
Pliacops  bufo,  Orthonota  undulata,  Strombodes  dlstortus, 
CJionetes,  Discina,  and  others  not  determined. 

The  dip  of  these  shales  varies  from  20°  to  40°  >IST.  W. 
Near  Julian  there  is  an  abnormal  dip.  On  the  farm  owned 
by  J.  B.  Mattern,  northwest  of  the  No.  VII  outcrop  alluded 
to  above,  the  black  fissile  shales  dip  45°,  S.  E.,  on  the  rail- 
road near  his  house,  and  80°,  S.  E.,  80  rods  northwest.  The 
change  of  dip  extends  for  some  distance  into  the  valley. 
Between  the  outcrop  at  the  railroad  and  the  No.  VII  ridge 
is  about  50  rods  of  shale  soil.  Thus  there  appears  to  be 
another  small  syncline  in  this  region. 

On  the  road  near  Matilda  is  an  extensive  outcrop  of  com- 
pact olive  shale  having  a  dip  of  40°  or  more  N.  W.  The  only 
fossil  found .  here  is  Lunulicardium  fragilis.  Possibly 
this  belongs  to  the  Genessee,  but  stratigraphically  it  does 
not  appear  to  be  above  the  other  portions  described  as 
Hamilton  proper. 


JVo.  VIII,  c.     Chemung  group. 

Back  from  the  railroad,  £  of  a  mile  or  more,  along  the 
second  range  of  hills  the  shale  becomes  more  sandy,  the  dips 
range  from  15°  to  30°,  N.  W.,  and  there  is  a  change  of  fos- 
sils. Though  the  line  of  division  between  this  and  the 
Hamilton  is  not  well  marked,  evidently  this  belongs  to  the 
Chemung  period. 

Back  of  Unionville  are  numerous  very  large  bowlders  of 
coarse  sandstone  or  conglomerate  resembling  somewhat  the 
Oriskany  sandstone  and  indicating  by  their  position  strata 
of  this  character  in  this  vicinity.  This  probably  locates  the 
Portage  group.  Above  this  horizon  are  found  sandy  olive, 
drab,  and  red  shales  with  sandstones. 

In  the  lower  part  of  this  group  within  one  mile  of  Julian 
are  Cyrtina  Hamilton  ens  is,  Productella  (?)  Spirifer 
mucronata  (a  loose  specimen,)  which,  so  far  as  fossils  are 
concerned,  leave  the  question  in  doubt  as  to  whether  it  is 
Hamilton  or  Chemung. 
28  T4. 


434  T.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       A.   L.   EWIXG. 

Above,  in  the  upper  part  of  the  formation,  fossil  evi- 
dence is  more  certain.  Atrypa  reticularis  of  the  large  Che- 
mung  type,  Leiorhynchus  mesaco stall*, ,  Stropkomena  ca- 
yuta,  St.  cTiemungensis  (?),  Spirifer  disjuncta,  S.  meso- 
strialis  (?),  8.  mesacostalis  ;  these  spirifers  occurring  as 
casts.  Productella  Sp.  (?),  Avicula  decussata,  Chonetes, 
Amcula  damnoniensis  are  found  in  the  upper  portions  of 
the  Chemung. 

The  division  between  the  Chemung  and  Catskill  (VIII  and 
IX)  as  fixed  at  the  beginning  of  the  red  sandstone,  is  gen- 
erally readily  made  out.  It  occurs  between  the  third  and 
fourth  ranges  of  hills  from  2  to  3  miles  from  the  railroad. 

Near  the  upper  surface  of  the  Chemung,  iron  ore  is  found 
in  places.  On  the  farm  owned  by  D.  Yethers,  in  Huston 
township,  is  an  opening  where  fossil  ore  was  removed  for 
the  Julian  furnace.  Fragments  of  sandy  fpssil  ore  may 
be  found  here  at  present,  though  the  opening  is  closed. 


INDEX  TO  T4. 


NOTE.  -Where  a  locality  is  more  fully  described  the  page  is  marked  by 
an  *. 

Page. 

Aaronsburg,  6,16,43,44,48,340,347 

Ackley,  (A.&J.,)      287 

Ackleybank,  138, 195,207,223, 224, 305, 409 

jEtna  colliery,   .  109 

Agricultural  College,      12,41 

Age  of  ores,  408,419 

Alexander,  (J.  R.  <fe  C.  T.,) ix, 313, 314 

Alexander  farm,  ]87 

Alexander's  limestone  quarry,     40,275,312,431 

Allegheny  coal  field,  57 

Allegheny  crest,  2236',  2614',  2409',  2317',  2224', 21,56,286 

Allegheny  escarpment,        .   .       3 

Allegheny  foot  hills 9,268,279,294 

Allegheny  mountains,  7,8,23,46,47,52,260,263,265 

Allegheny  mountain  plateau,  ....         2,279,284 

Allegheny  mountain  summit  on  B.  and  S.  S.  R.  R.,  1735',      .  ...      18 

Allegheny  mountain  summit  (Emig's)  T.  and  C.  R.  R.,  2043',     18 

Allegheny  mountain  summit,  (about  1912'  A.  T.,)     24,115 

Alto  farm,     190,191 

Ameigh  run,  ..." 265 

A  mbonychia  radiata  in  III, ...    427 

Analyses  by  Dr.  Genth, 384 

Analysis  of  well  water, 420 

Analysis  or  iron  in  limestone,   .   .   . 407 

Ann  Patton  tract, 157 

Anthosiderite,       390 

Antes,          53 

Antis  gap, 322 

Antis  run, 9 

Antis  run  road,        288 

Anticlinal  of  Nittany  valley  described,        .   .  29,32,33,35,41,42,43,44,45 

Appalachian  belt  of  the  U.  S.  from  Canada  to  Alabama,      373 

Ardley's.  (J.,)      . 273 

Ard's  nelds, 246 

(435  T*.) 


436  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lIN'VILLIEHS. 

Page. 

Artesian  wells, 30 

Arthrophycus  harlani  in  IV, 429 

Askey  hill,       52,64,67,77 

Askey's,  (N.,)      295 

Alice's  farm,      236 

Atrypa  in  V, 429 

Atrypa  reticularis  in  VI, 430 

Atrypa  reticularis  in  VIII  b, 433 

Atrypa  reticularis  in  Chemung, 434 

Auraan's  (P.,)      338 

Avicula  damnoniensis  in  Chemung, 434 

Avicula  decussata  in  Chemung, .   .   .   .    434 

Bahrrer's  (Jac)  farm,       417 

Bailey,  John,        .  ". 236 

Bailey's  (W.  H.)  field, 246 

Bald  Eagle — Allegheny  mountain  monoclinal, 268 

Bald  Eagle  canal,  671', 17 

Bald  Eagle  old  canal, 312 

Bald  Eagle  creek  bridge  station,  (921'  A.  T.,) 17 

Bald  Eagle  creek,      .  1,5,7,9, 10, 12, 17,259, 269, 274, 275, 282, 284, 289,292,295, *431 

Bald  Eagle  furnace, 354 

Bald  Eagle  Junction,  722', 18 

Bald  Eagle  mountain,  1700  A.  T., 2, 9, 10,*24, 46,49, 187,245,268, 

271,274,278, 281, 284, 290, 301, 304, 310, 316, 358, *427 
Bald  Eagle  valley  plank  road  crossing,  (665'  A.  T.,)  17  ;   (699'  A.  T.,)  18 

Bald  Eagle  ridge,     274,279,301 

Bald  Eagle  township, 2 

Bald  Eagle  valley, .2,9,17,24,133, 

196, 198, 199, 257, 264,268, 269, 272, 278, 288, 295, 306, 310, *427 

Bald  Knob  mountain,  (2200'  A.  T.,) 45,428 

Bald  mountain  spur, 328,333 

Ballatt's, 308 

Baltimore, 182 

Bare  meadows,  see  Bear  meadows,     15,328 

Bare  (Bear  Meadows)  mountain,  2000' A.  T., 328 

Barlow  banks, 35 

Barlow  &  Day  mines,      138,182,184 

Barren  measures,  (Mahoning  S.S.,  shale,  etc.,) 51 

Barren  measures  No.  XIV, 57 

Barren  ridge, 316 

Barrens  group, J38 

Barrens,      30,305,306,316,317,323,364,368,403,423 

Barrens  ore  banks,         405 

Bartges'  (A.)  house,  349', 50,336 

Bartholomew  estate, 180 

Bayard  (And.)  tract, 99 

B.  &  B.  R.  R.  R.;  junction,  720', 188,  192,  195,  227,  238,  242,  245 ;  19 

B.  C.  &  S.  W.  R.  R., 8,262 

Beachdale's  (J.  C.,)      298 

Bear  gap  in  Brush  mountain,      16 

Bear  meadows  2200'  A.  T.,     15,  44,  328,  333 


INDEX.  T4.  437 

Page 
Bear  run  issues  from  Markle's  gap,   13;    mouth  in  Moshannon  creek 

(1470  >)      21,  112,  114,  321 

Beates,  J.  H., 130 

Beaver,  (General  James  A.,) 262,  349 

Beaver  branch,  13;  run,  247;  mouth  In  Moshannon  creek,  (1447'  A.  T.,)    21 

Beaver  Dam  tunnel,  (1014' A.  T.,) 14,19 

Beaver  Dam  hill, 350 

Beauty  run,      8,98,99 

Beck  (H)  farm,  181;  (Col.,) 203 

Beck  banks,      35,  133,  167,  169,  354,  356,  357 

Beech  creek,  7,  8,  46,  53,  81,  266,  267,  268,  289,  299 ;  N.  fork,  52 ;  region,    .   .  57 

Beech  creek  R.  R.,  .  96 

Beech  creek  water  on  B.  &  S.  S.  R.  R.,  (1549  A.  T.)— R.  R.  grade  1599' 

A.  T.,  18 

Beech  creek  basin  described, *91,  122,  267 

Beech  creek,  Clearfield  &  S.  W.  R.  R.  levels, 20,  52 

Beech  creek  station  B.  C.  C.  &  S.  W.  R.  R.,  (616'  A.  T.,) 17,  20,  295 

Beech  creek  extension  R.  R., 102 

Behrer's  (David)  farm, t 410 

Behrer's  (Jacob)  farm, 189 

Beam's  cross  roads, 350 

Bell,  J.  M.,  A.  H., ix,19 

Bell  (Professor), 407 

Bellefonte,  11,  12;  (744'  A.  T.) 18,20,30,  154,  167,  172,  181,  187.  196, 

242,  247,  249,  258,  262,  264,  273,  278,  286,  305,  307,  312,  424 

Bellefonte  depot,  313 

Bellefonte,  vicinity,      ••....  303 

Bellefonte  gap, 10,158,269,278,290,292,304,311 

Bellefonte  back  road, 159 

Bellefonte  forge  (now  Valentine  &  Co. 's,) 5 

Bellefonte  car  works,       11,  259 

Bellefonte  glass  works, 293 

Bellefonte  Ore  Co.'s  mine, 143,  145 

Bellefonte  &  Snow  Shoe  R.  R.  levels, 18 

Bellefonte  branch  R.  R.  levels, 18 

Bellefonte  &  Buffalo  run  R.  R.  levels, 19,  191,  223,  238,  403 

Bellefonte,  Nittany  valley  &  Leinont  R.  R.  levels, 20,  172 

Bellefonte  R.  R.  bridge,         282 

Bellefonte  section  described, • 

Bellefonte  turnpike  section, 4< 

Bellefonte  fossils,  427 

Sellerophon  bilobatus  in  111, 403 

Benner,  (Gen.  Philip,)     258,  310 

Benner-Patton  line, ^7 

Benner  township, 245,  275,  301,  307,  309 

Benner  township  line, 314 

Bennett,  Chalfant,  Oliver  (Messrs.), 208 

Berk's  (David)  fields, 359 

Berwind,  White  &  Co., ( 

Big  Fill,         2^ 

Big  Fishing  Creek  gap, 


438  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.   D'  INVILLIERS. 

Page. 

Big  gap  in  Brush  mountain, 16 

Big  Gap  run,  348 

Big  Gap  hollow,      41 

outcrop  described,      404 

an  ancient  water-way, 422 

Big  Hollow  bank, 138,245  326 

Big  mountain,      12,48 

above  Elk  creek  at  Wolfs  store, 322,346,347 

Big  run,  8,95 

Big  Sandy  creek, 8,96,98 

Billin,  Mr.  Chas.  E.,  (See  Report  S,) vi,49 

Bingham  (W.)  tract,    .    .  99 

Bird  Coal  and  Iron  Company  tract, 65,  67,  69,  72 

Birds'-eye  limestone, 312 

Birmingham, vi 

Bitner  (John)  farm, 252 

Black  Bear  run,  B.  C.  C.  <fe  S.  W.  RR.,  1365', 7,  20,  56,  104,  111 

Black  Diamond  mines, 106 

Black  Oak  church,         272 

Black  Oak  range  of  hills, 271 

Black  Oak  ridge  terrace,      276 

Black  River  group,  New  York, 302 

Blair  &  Cooper  banks, 243,  416 

Blair  county,  1,  2,  209,  223,  268,  269,  279 

Blair  county,  (Report  T,  page  52,) 503 

Blair  farm 1ST 

Blair,  S.  S., x 

Blanchard  &  Waddle, 69 

Blue  Spring  pool,       315 

Boak,  Messrs. ;  Theodore,  George, 121,  127,  129 

Boak's  Pine  Glen  store, x,46 

Boak's  (Walker)  property, 125 

Boal's  (Wm.)  254;  saw  mill,  333 ;  (J.  S.,) 414,415,417 

Boalsburg,         ....  6,  12,  41,  235,  246,  327,  417,  424,  428 

Boalsburg  pike  at  Oak  Hall,  (1029'  A.  T.,)  20,  327,  331 

Boalsburg  pike,  B.,  N.  V.  &  L.  RR.,  (863'  A.  T.,)      1,  20 

Booking,  Mr.,      362,  366 

Boggs 292 

Boggs  township  line, 260,  266,  268,  269,  278,  316 

Bombshell  ore, 419 

Booth,   (J.,) 324 

Botany  of  Bear  meadows, ' 328 

Botorffs  (P.)  farm, 324,  326 

Bougher  run, 7 

Bower  house, 130 

Bowlders  of  flint, 405,  407 

Bowlders  of  No.  IV, 428 

Bowlders,  417 

Boynton  Coal  Co., 109 

Bradford  separator ........        145 

Briarfwn  summit,  1603', 20,  86,  88 


INDEX.  T4.  439 


Bricker  (Scott  <fe  Mitchell  )  farm,     ................. 

Brickley's,  ...........   .   ..........  ....  267,  295 

Brillinger'sold  mill,     .....................  33^ 

Britton,  J.  Blodget,   ................  ^ 

Brockerhoff,  Andrew,  .................  ix 

BrockerhoflF  heirs,  ....................  132 

Brockerhoff  farm,  ....................  164?  187,189,254,306 

Brooking,  (Mr.,)    ..........................    369 

Bronstetter,  Jos.,    ..........................    354 

Bronstetter's,  ...........................    355 

Brookville  coal  bed  (A);  A.  No.  7  ................  51,121;  125 

Brookville  lower  coals  ........................       114 

Brown's  coal  mine,    ...........................    319 

Brown's  (H.)  tract,   ..........................      37 

Brown,  McMullen,  Divens  <fe  Co.,  ........   ...........    238 

Brower's  (W.)  place,     ........................  277,  278 

Brumgord,  (Martin,)   ......................  238 

Brush  mountain,        ................  14,  25,  49,  322,  334,  346,  421 

Brush  mountain  knob,     .........................    335 

Brush  mountain  at  Millheim  gap,    ....................      16 

Brush  mountain  synclinal,  ..............  48,  414,  253,  339,  346,  347 

Brush  valley  described,    ..........  3,  26,  47,  48,  250,  253,  319,  321,  380 

Brush  valley  axis,  .......  16,  *42,  246,  327,  328,  330,  334,  344,  371,  414,  416 

Bryson  bank,    ........................  138,  230,  236 

Rryson  (Penna.  bank)  horizon,  .....................    248 

Bryson  ore  bank,  .....................    323 

Bryson  cut,  or  old  Penna.  ore  bank,  ...................    229 

Buchanan  station,  1059'  A.  T.,    ......................      19 

Buck  Hollow,  .........................      87 

Buck  (Chestnut)  ridge,     ............  13,30,112,114,304,316,323,324 

Buffalo  run,  10,  11,  192,  306,  307,  308  ;  region,  ..........      409,417,425 

Buffalo  run  crossing,  (B.  <fe  B.  F.  RR.  782',)  ...............      19 

Buffalo  Run  group.        .........................        138 

Buffalo  Run  railroad,  ......................         198,199 

Buffalo  Run  road,     ..............  187,188,189,190,191,198,310,411 

Buffalo  Run  valley,  ....................  187,218,412 

Bull  bank,  ......................  138,208,214,389 

Bull  banks  described,    ..........................    361 

Bull  bank  hill,     .............................    361 

Bull  bank  ore  analyzed,  .........................    384 

Bullet  run,      ...........................     9,292,294 

Bull's  mine,     ............................      353,390 

Bullion,  Mr.,     ..............................    221 

Bnrnside,  Cameron,  ...........................       x 

Burnside  township,    .................  46,52,53,121,122,265,266 

Burns,  (J.,)   .............................    108 

Burns  &  J  ews  run,    ..........................      7  ,  122 

Bush,  D.  G.,      ..............................       x 

Bush,  Mrs.,  ...........................    172 

Butler  ore  bank  described,     ..................  36,138,155,166 

Buttermilk,    .  .........................    123 


440  T.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'l 

Page. 

Buttermilk  falls, 56,267 

Buttermilk  lands, . 125 

Buttermilk  hill  section,  (Fig  36,  p.  58,)      124,126 

Cacoxenite,    .    .  .  39] 

Calciferous  sandstone  group,      302,393,412 

Cale  hollow,  .  .  229,366,370,371 

Cale  Hollow  axis=Tadpole  axis, 34,35 

California  bank,     208,214, 353, *363 

Calymene  in  II, 424 

Calymene  beckii,  in  III, 427 

Cambria  county, 52,55 

Cameron,  Peter,      x, 

Campbell,  Mr.,  114;  farm, 236,277 

Candy  farm,      181 

Canoe,  9 ;  run,     293 

Carboniferous  Formation  in  Western  Penna., 51 

Carl's  (B)  place, 241 

Carnegie  Bros.  &  Co., 192,218,224,225,230,232,236 

Carson's  (Fred.)  section, 84 

Castanea,  (Lock  Haven,)  576', 20 

Cato,  8,24,266- 

Cato  bridge,  1174,20,95,96;  coalfield, 96 

Cato  road, 268 

Catskill-Pocono  beds, 268,270,286 

Catekill  ridge, 297 

Catakill  No.  IX,  267,271,274,275,286,287,288,293;  red  beds,     289, 290 

Catskill  Chemung  transition  layers, 270,298 

Cave  in  Gregg  township,  described, 421 

Cavern  deposits  of  ore,        418 

Cedar  creek,  (described,) 12 

Cedar  run,    ...  247, 414 

Celtic  Iron  Co.,  198,199,201;  ore  bank, 138 

Cement  works, 160,341 

Cemetery  hill,         110 

Centennial  Commission, 258 

Centre  county,  (geographical  description.) 1 

Centre  furnace,    .    .  12,218,219,220,222,223,225,238,240,244,245,258,326,364,371 

Centre  (old)  furnace,         192,193 

Centre  and  Hecla  furnace  properties,       193 

Centre  Hall  station,  (1272' A.  T.,)   .   .  19,30,42,44,251,253,311,329,330,334,417 

Centre  Hall  pike,  11,47,303,308 

Centre  Hall,  (road,)  1274', 20 

Centre  Hill, 15,253,254,329,331 

Centre  mills, 16,346 

Chcetetes  lycoperdon,  in  II, 424 

Chance,  H.  M., v 

Chazy  limestone 412 

Chemung  rocks, 272,29J,299,*433 

Chemung  (Upper,1) 267 

Chemung  and  Portage  flag  hill, 274 

Cherry  run, 8,47,100,1121 


INDEX.  T4.  441 

Page. 

Chestnut  (Buck)  ridge,  .  13,30,189,208,218,225,227,273,316,323;  6arren*,202, 

304, 305,407, *412 

Chonetes  in  VIII  b, 433 

Chonetes  in  Chemung, 434 

Churchville,  10,330;  quarry, 331 

Clark's  farm, 187,298 

Clarion  coal  bed  (A'  No.  6,) 51,125 

Clearfield  station,  (1103'  A.  T.,) 18 

Clearfield  Bituminous  Coal  Co. 's  Tunnel  Mines, 53,85 

Clearfleld  county, 1,46,52,56,59,114,131 

Clearfield  region, 262 

Clearfield  faults,     114 

Clinton  county, 1,3,5, 

46,48,52,56,121,169,170,179,185,261,268,278,279,316,321 

Clinton  county  line, .  171,184,319 

Clinton  shale  formation,  No.  V, 273, 275,281,290, 301,310, 321, *429 

Cliffs, 39 

Clover  Mill  dam,     339 

Clover  run, 108 

Coal  hill, 64,67,70,75,268 

Coal  measures  in  the  Second  Basin, 51,121,123 

Coal  sought  for  in  slates  of  III,  near  Hublersburg, 37 

Coates  (L.,)  tract  described,      158,159 

Coburn,  (Col.  Jas.  P.,) x, 254,255 

Coburn  station  at  forks  of  Penn's  creek,  (1026  A.  T.,)   .   .    14,15,16,19,341,342 

Cold  stream  forge, 7,56,109,118,259 

College  township,*  325  ;  described, 243, 244, 307, 308, 309, 323, *325 

College  road,  (B.  &  B.  R.  R.  grade,  1150,') 19 

College  well  core, 401 

Collins,  Philip x 

College  mills, I5 

Condo's  B.  S.  S., 318 

Confer's  (G,) 343 

Confer  or  Decker  valley, 15,26,49,333,338 

Confer  (Decker  Valley)  axis, 45,328 

Confer  creek, 

Conglomerate  of  XII, ^ 

Cook  shanty, • 

Cooper  bank, 244,416 

Corals  in  VI, 43° 

Core  of  boring, 401 

Counsel  run,     8,92,96 

Coxe  <fe  Howe,  (Messrs.,) 262 

Craft's,  85 

Crane's,  (B.,) 371 

Crepe,  (J.  D.,)  land  of, 
Crest  of  Allegheny  Mtn., 

Crider,  (Messrs.,) 

Crider's  hill, .76,284,285 

Crider's  mill, ^ 

Crider's  quarries,    .   .          


442  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'INVILLIERS. 

P»ge. 

•Cronister's  bouse  line, 274,  334 

Croskey,   (Hen.,) 97 

Crozer,  (Samuel,) 252 

Crumerine's,  (J.  C.,) 416 

Crust  farm, 41 

Crust  bank, 138, 189,  190,  191,  305,  306 

Curtin,  A  G., ix 

Curtin,  A.  G.,  Jr ix,263 

Curtin  Bros.,      138,  145, 158,  179,  198,  201,  431 

Curtin  &  Co.,        311 

Curtin,  (Roland,) 259 

Curtin  bank  described,      *359 

Curtin  Bros',  ore  bank  described, *139 

estate, 282 

line,      298 

works, 247,  288 

rolling  mill, 281 

furnace,  159,  163,  282,  288 

Curtin  gap  in  B.  E.  mountain,  31,  147,  278,  282,  283,  317  ;  road, 315 

Curtin's  quarries, 430 

Curtin  township,      46,  267,  295,  299 

Curtiu,  (village,)          12,  143 

Curtin  Station,  B.  E.  V.  R.  R., 260,  282,  283 

Curwensville  Station,  1110', 18 

Cyrtina  hamiltonensis  in  Chemung, 433 

Cytheria, 312 

Dale's  hill,     109 

house, 108 

mills,  (water  of  Spring  creek  1000'  A.  T.) 20,  41,  327 

summit  (RR.)  1110'  A.  T., 20 

Dallas  (Hugh)  tract, 99 

Dame's,  (J,) 341 

Darrah  ore  bank  described, 39,  138,  *164,  165, 194,  197 

Darrah  &  Zimmerman  bank  ores, 194 

Day  bank,          35 

Decker's,  (T.,)        337 

Decker's,  (Confer's)  Valley  axis  described,    .   .  45,333 

Degerolite,         390 

Delaney  heirs'  house, 169 

Desert  bank, 138,185,195,198,199,201,304,305,306 

Devens,  Hon.  J.,      x 

Devonian  measures  described, 268,301 

Devonian  and  sub-carboniferous  measures  described,       299 

Dewitt'srun, 9,277 

Diamond  Drill  Co.,  205 

Dick's  run,  9,276,277;  Station,  (1801' A.  T.,) 17 

Dinge's,  (J.,) 341 

D'Invilliers,  C.  S x 

D'Invilliers,  E.  V.,J v,  354 

Discina  in  VII? 431 

Discina  in  VIII  b, 433 


INDEX.  T4.  443 

Page. 

Divens,  Judge, 166,167,181,184,238 

Dixon,  (L.,) 124>288 

Dolan, j73 

Dolomite,     3^2  421 

Doolen,  Mr.,     jgg 

Dowdy's  run, 9)289 

Drought,     '   '        '30 

Dry  run, 13,321,322 

Dry  Hollow,  357  ;  outcrop,  364  ;  ore-banks, 390,396 

Dry  (Little)  Hollow,  Fig.  21, '353 

Dufrenite,          39! 

Dunbar  Station,  1453',       18 

Duncan  (Spring  Mills,)  1078'  A.  T., 19 

Duncan  &  Co.,  (machine  works,  etc.,) 259 

Dunkirk  Mining  Co.'s  bank, 202 

Dunkle  farm,  172 

Dunlap,  (John,)         • 259 

Dysart,  (Kaufman,)  ore  bank  described, .    147 

Eagle(old)  furnace,  143,259;  works, •  ....     260,263 

Eagle's  Nest,  308 

Eagleville  Station,  (A.  T.  635',) 6,17,19,295,297,299 

Eagleton  coals,  .   .  .  57 

Eastern  &  Western  Penna.,  (furnaces  of,)      378 

Edmonston's,  .   .       .    .          276 

Eddy  Lick,  8,92,95  ;  run, 92 

Egg  hill,  14, 15, 25, 44,50, 330, *331, 418,426;  synclinal,  253, 336, 340, 425; dips, 

331;  slates,  254 

Elk  creek,  (main  branch  of  Pine  creek,)  15;  described  at  Milestown,  16, 

48,339,342,346;  valley, 345 

Elmiralron  Co.,     .   .       . 150 

Emerick  mine, 138,253 

Emerick,  (W.,)  farm,      417 

Emig's  gap  summit,  (A.  T.  2028,)     21 

Emig's  summit,  T.  &  C.  R.  R.,  2043  ,     18 

Erb'sgap, 325 

Erosion  by  solution, 408,420 

Ertley's,      318 

Etter's,  P.,  house,      46,267 

Evangelical  church,         332,341 

Ewing,  (A.  L.,)  Report  on  Centre  Co., v,  vi,401 

Eyer's,  (J.,j  house,  366 ;  .ore  bank, 370 

Fair  farm, 190,191,192 

Fairlamb,  Dr. x 

Fallon,  John, 183 

Farman  farm, 187 

Fathomless  spring, 422 

Faults  discussed, 31,32,36,66,71,82,101,414 

Ferguson  township, 6,11,235 

described, 323 

line, 243,323 

Ferriferous  limestone, 5l 


444  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Page. 

Field  bank, 138,171 

Field's  run, 7,122 

Fillmore,  32,41,187,188,189,306,412;  B.  and  B.  R.  R.  R,  level,  (912'  A.  T.,)      19 

Fillmore-Boalsburg  section  described, 40 

Fire-clay  beds,         .  .    .    115 

First,  or  Laurel  Hill— Pine  Glen— Hyner  anticlinal  axis,      46,105 

First  or  Snow  Shoe  basin, 46 

Fisliburn-Wharton  tract, 94 

Fisher's  place,  69  ;  (S.)  tract,  95,  97  ;  (W.  P.,)  276,  277,  357 ;  two  quarries,  275 
Fishing  creek,  1, 10,  184  ;  (big,)  321 ;  (little,)  319  ;  valley,  184  ;  operations,  311 

Fishing  creek  (Curtin  Bros'.)  ore  bank  described, 138,  *139,  148 

Flagstone  quarry, 39 

Flint  bowlders, 405,  407,  417 

Flour  mill, 426 

Floyd  bank, ....  208.  209,  364 

Folds  in  Nittany  axis,      404 

Forge  tract,  (275  acres,) : 259 

Formation  No.  II,      401 

Fossils  of  No.  I,  not  found, 413 

Fossils  of  No.  II, 423 

Fossils  of  No.  Ill, 427 

Fossil  iron  ore, 429 

Fossils  in  VII,     431 

Foster's  place,          327 

Foster  (W.)  farm, 416 

Fountain  station, 266 

Foust's  valley,  (Underwood's,) 49,333,338 

Fowler's  station,  (991' A.  T.,) 14,19,269,342,350 

Fox's,  (G,)      • 347,  348 

Frazer,   (Persifor,) 204,  357 

Free  Run,  9,278 ;  crossing, .    276 

Freeport  group  of  coal  measures,  56,131 ;  E  coal,  51,57,124  ;  D  coal,  51 ,114,115 
Freeport  Upper  Limestone,  51,125;  lower  limestone,  51;  sandstone,  .      51,115 

Freestone  soil, 414 

Fry,  (Geo.,)      171 

Furney  axis  of  Clinton  county, 57,92,93 

Fye's  (D.,)        324 

Gallitzin  coal  bed, 57 

Gannet,  11., 2 

Gaps  in  Allegheny  mountain,  2,409',  2.367',  A.  T., 21 

Gardner's  station,  1,568', 18,271 

Garner  farm  house, 227,324 

Gatesburg,          213,226,360,364 

Gatesburg  ridge,  13,225,227,324,*  413;  anticlinal  axis  described, 33 

Gatesburg  anticlinal, 33, 218 

Gatesburg  outcrop, 365 

Gatesburg  furnace, 359 

Gatesburg  ore  bank,138,148;  described,     *149, 151,214, 311, 362 

Gatesburg  cut  ore, 390 

Gatesburg  road, 365 

Genessee  black  slates,       276,287,294 


INDEX.  T4.  445 

Page. 

Genessee  group, 433 

Geuth,  (Dr.  F.  A.,)  analyses, v,212,213,214,226,231,234 

George's  Valley, 15,44,49,50 

George's  Valley,  (Pine  Creek,)  axis 14,331,332,337,341 

Gephart,  (see  Mussert,) 343 

Germania  settlement,  64,82,83,122;  school-house, 69 

Gingry's,  (S.,)  place, 273,274 

Glen  Harris,  277,286 

Glyptocrinus  decadaitylus  in  III,      427 

Goheen's,  (J.  J.,)  farm,  325;  Goheen's  (R.,)  farm, 247 

Gold  digger's  fraud, 327 

Gordon's  place, 181,309 

Gorman  coal, 51,62,95,101 

Graham,  (Geo.,)     63 

Graptotiles  in  II, 423 

Gray,  (S.  T.,)  198,410;  Gray,  (J.,)  189,221,304,303;  Gray,  (P.  D.,)   ....    221 

Gray  bank,  198,199 

Gray's  splash  dam,  (1,090',  A.  T.,) 20,46,91,97 

Great  Valley, 136,193 

Green  farm, 189 

Green's,  Mrs., 306 

Green  run,         9,293 

Green  Valley  in  Nittany  t, .   .    12,37 

Gregg,  (General  Irwin,)  (Mrs.  Mayt,)     252,254,330 

Gregg  bank,  416 

Gregg,  (A,)  bank,  414,415 

Gregg  township,  6,48,317,*  333 ;  cave, 421 

Grenoble  farm,        227,324 

Gross  farm,  195 

Gum  Stump  station,  1,020',     .  18 

Gunsalus,  (S.,)  63;  (Meese,)63;  (drift,)  70;  (place,)72;  (old  mine,)  73; 

(J.,)  299 

Haines  township, .    1,6,48, *347 

Hale,  (Dr.,)  151,  15S;  (Jas.,)  97,154,158;   (J.  T.,)  309;  (W.  G.,)  ...  246 

Half  Moon  creek,  204,  366  ;  run,     ....  13,  202,  226,  305,  323,  358,  364,  370,  381 

Half  Moon  run  limestone  analyzed, 

Half  Moon  township, 6,201,208,301,304,305 

line 222,271,306 

Hall,  (A.  R.,)  276;  (G.  R.,) 276,277 

Haller&Co.,  2°5 

Hamilton  formation,      *432, 150,  269,  276,  294,  298 

Hamilton  ore  bank, *M7.  148 

Hannah  furnace,  203,  270,  353,  356,  364  ;  bank, 203,2.4,354 

station,  (1057'  A.  T.,)       17 

Hard  bank,         198,  201 

Harden,  E.  B., 

Harden,  (J.  W.,)  on  mining  methods v,395 

Harmony  forge,  25^ 

HarnPd,  Jacobs*  Co., 64,70,72 

Harper  farm,         

JIarHs  township, 249,  324,  *325 


446  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS 

Page. 

Harristract, 141 

Harrison  (Geo.)  tract,      181 

Harter  farm, 164 

Hartilne,  (M.,) 100 

Hartshorne,  J., 313 

Hartsock  bank, 201,  214 

Harvey,  (Isaac,) 94,  99 

Hassou's  gap,         328,  329 

Hawk's  (Mrs.)  house, 268 

Hayes  run, 8,  92 

mouth  (833'  A.  T..) 19 

road,     268 

Heckendorn, 123 

Heckman's,       337 

Hecla  furnace.        172,  178,  181,  185,  333,  172, 173, 174,  177,  181,  319 

Hecla  furnace,  (old  McCoy  &  Linn,) 261,319 

Hecla  furnace  section  described, 37 

Hecla  bank,          .  37, 138,  172,  174,  179,  251,  317 

Hecla  gap  in  Gregg  township,        12,  14,  48'  319,  334 

Helderberg  limestone  No.  VI, 269 

Henderson's  (A.  A.)  house,  270,  327;  &  Co., 182 

Hendrick's(D.)  property,     '298 

Henney's  farm,  254 

Hersterrnan's  saw  mill, 16 

Hick's  cement  works,        160,  314,  341 

Hickory  ridge, 366 

High  St., 313 

Hill  school-house, 274 

Hind  knob,       49,  348 

Hippie's  place, 69,  131 

Hogback,  46,  96.  166 

Hogback  tunnel,  B.,  C.  C.  &  S.  W.  RR. ;   water  S.  side,  944'  ;   grade,  952' ; 

ground  over  tunnel,  (1122' A.  T.,)  water  N.S.,  (975' A.  T.,) 20,95 

Hollow  bank,       195 

Hollowbaugh's, 288 

Holmes'  farm, 319 

Holt  (Col.  John)  lands, 63,67 

Holt,  (J.  H.,) x,  79,83,123,125 

Holt,  (W.,) 69,79 

Holt's  hill,        46,52,68,78,79 

Holt's  hollow 288 

Holt's  drift, 81,82,106 

Holt's  run, 9 

Holt's  shaft, 81 

Holler's  station, 17,651 

Hoinewood  S.  S.,      126.266 

Hoover's  saw  mill, 270,276 

Hopkins,  (Mark,)      87 

Hornstone,         405 

concretions, 417 

Hosier-man's  (A.,) 340 


INDEX.  T'.  447 

Page. 

Hosterman's  saw-mill, 4j 

Hostler  bank, '   '   *  229,366',368  to  371,396 

Hostler  bank  ore  analyzed,        387 

Hostler  bank  limestone  analyzed, c  391  393  394 

Houserville ll,12,41,244/245[423 

Houston  water-power  wheel, 261 

Howard,  6,12,166,183,283,292,295,298 

Station,  (679'  A.  T.,) 17,261,426,431 

Howard  coal  mine,        138 

Howard  furnace  ore  bank,      178,179,261,291,318,429 

Howard  iron  works, 263,291 

Howard  and  Jacksonville  section 36 

Howard  road, 267,318 

Howard  gap,        269,290,291 

Howard  township,  261,267,269,278,290,318;  line, 284,289,297,298 

Hoy,  (Geo.  S.,) 167 

Hoy,  (J.,) 69,71,81,101,317,426 

Hoy  &  Holt ' .      68 

Hoy  ore  bank,         *147,138,144 

Hoy's  u.onkey  drift, 106 

Hublersburg,  12,37,155,166,174,179,181,185 

Hublersburg  Valley  Group, 138 

Hubler's  run,  349 

Hudson  river  slates  of  III, 230,251,303,312,411,414,424 

Hughes'  place, 294 

Humes'.  E.  C., 159,327 

Humes  &  Holt  tract, 69 

Humes' grist-mill, 11,319,259 

Hunt&Clapp,      120 

Hunt,  (Person,)  tract,      99 

Hunter,  (Cspt.,)  195 

Hunter's,  (B.)  coal  mine, 188,189,190 

Hunter's  road,  B.  &  B.  R.  R.  R.,  927', 19 

Hunter's  hematite  mine,     .   .    310 

Huntingdon  county,  1,2,3,6,227,237,258,259,261,323;  line,        205,229,235,353 

Huntingdon  county.  (Report  F,) 290 

Huntingdon  furnace,          366,370 

Huston  township,  273;  line, 274 

Huston,  (Thos.)  heirs,       181,184 

Huston,  (Gen'l.,) 193 

Huston  bank  No.  1, 35,138,181,275 

Huston  bank  No.  2, I84 

Hyner  axis 52,92 

Iddings,  J., 276 

Indian  Grave  hill, 276 

Iron  industries  of  Centre  Co.  (described,) 257,263 

Iron  making  in  Penna., 258 

Iron  ores,  *«5 

Iron  ores  of  the  coal  measures, 102 

Iron  ore  in  Chemung,      .       43^ 

Iron  ores  in  (javerns, 41^ 


448  T4.     11EPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D5  INVILLIERS. 

Page. 

Irwm  (General,)  246;  (Judge,) 165 

Irwin  property,  159,218,327;  cut, 220 

Ishler's,  (Myers' estate,) 247,327 

Jack's  mountain, ........         14 

Jackson,  G.  W. ;  W.  J., ix;  x 

Jackson  mine, 13S,*143 

Jacksonville,  36,165,167,318,412,426;  road,  139,315,317,318;  valley,  .  317 

Jacksonville  valley  group  of  ores  described,      138,163 

Jenkin's  turbine  wheel,      .       261 

Jersey  Shore,  (junction,)  597',     20 

Jew's  run, 2,7 

Johnson's  ore   bank  washer  foundation,    (1200'  A.  T.)  ;  bank,  (1180'  A. 

T.,) 19, 138, 238, 240,  *4 16 ,422 

Johnstown  cement  lied, 51,62 

Jordan,  (Prof.,) 420 

Julian,  (S.  H.,) 274,428,430,433 

Julian  station,  (851'  A.  T.)  17;  furnace, 196,274 

Juniata,  11,185,224,282;  valley 6,258 

Juniata  iron,  258  ;  ore, 205 

Juniata  mines,       291,207,208,218,221,305 

Karthaus,  7, 121, 125, 129  to  131;  landing,  6,47,56;  road,    .    .  .    .      47 

Karthaus  pike,      46,65,72,78,121,128 

Karthaus  or  Second  basin,  52,56;  coals,  123  ;  bed, 128 

Karthaus  (old)  companj',  127 

Kaufman  (Dysart)  ore  bank  described, 147 

Kaufman,  (J.,) 154, 315 

Kechline's,         236,237 

Kel ley  station,  ( A gric.  College,)  1,111', 19 

Kephart  farm,      189 

Kerlin's,  (P.,) 332 

Kerr,  (A.,) 418 

Kerr's,  (Rev.  D.,)  house, 332 

Kerr  A  Bredin  bank,     ,   .    358,366,367 

Kerr  &  Bredin  bank  ore  analyzed,      237,387 

Kettle  in  Tus=ey  mtn.,     .   .  " 328 

Kinport's,  (D.,)  quarry, 326 

Kishacoquillas, 49,290 

Kittanning  upper  coal  bed,  C', 51,123,125 

Kittanning  middle  coal  bed,  C, 51,115,123,125,129 

Kittanning  lower  coal  bed,  B, 51,114,123,125 

Knoll's,  J.  V.,  268 

Kornman's,  (G.,) 336 

Krape's,  (S.,) 341 

Kreamer's  (D.,) 341 

Kreps',  (Levi,)  house,     174,246 

Krummerine's  farm  ore,     254,331 

Kustanbauter's, 236 

Lagoon  fault  in  tire-clay  bed, 116,119 

Laird's  place 273 

Lamar  township, " 2 

Lambourn  bank, 138,185,190,196,197,198,305,303,359 


INDEX.  T.  449 

Page. 

Lannen's,  (J.,)  place, 277 

Laurel  hill  axis, 52,105 

Laurel  run,        9,15,270,274,275 

Laurel  Run  house,     129 

Laurelton,  14 

Lauth,  Bernard  &  Co., 261 

Lauth  foundry,  431 

Lecther's,  (J.  B.,)  quarries,      293 

Lechathal,  (Lick,)Valley 14,45,*343,350 

Leech,  (George,)  farm, 252 

Lee's  gap, 13,321 

Leggett's,       297 

Lehigh  region,     136 

Lehigh  furnace,   .   .          136 

Leiorhynchus  mesacostalis  in  Chemung, 434 

Lemont,  (1040',  A.  T.,)  .   .3,12,20,25,43,47,201,243,249,327,424,425 

Lemont  station,  end  of  Nittanymtn.,  (1002',  A.  T.,)      19 

Lemont  pike,  ...  307,308,309 

Lemont  &  Centre  furnace  road, 326 

Lennox,  (Dav..)  tract,     .   .   . 67 

Leperditia  in  II,  424 

Leptcena  sericea  in  II, 424 

Leptcena  sericea  in  III, 427 

Leskey  branch  of  M-.&C.  R,  R., 112,114 

Leskey,  (old,)  drift, 113,115 

Lesley,  (J.  P.,)  202,204,208,212  to  214, 226,229,230,234,253. 

Levant,  (See  Medina,)  and  Oneida, 281 

Lewisburg  station,  (466',  A.  T.,)     19,43'- 

Lewisburg  &  Tyrone  R.  R  levels, 14,19,218,226 

L.  &T.  R,  R.  (branch  into  mine,)         209 

Lewis  farm,      164 

Lewistown  pike,      330 

Lewistown  Valley, 26 

Lewistown  and  Bellefonte  turnpike,     49 

Liberty  township,  9,295;  line, 277,292,293 

Lick  run  at  Jacksonville 36,81 

Lick  (Lechathal)  Valley,     14,45,343,350 

Limekiln  quarry, , 327 

Limestones  analyzed,  391,407 

Linden  Hall,  (road  1109' A.  T.,)      12,20,44,249,328,414 

Lindsay  Coates  tract,        • 158 

Lingle's,  rs.,)  saw-mill, 343 

LingleBros., 330 

Lingle, 253 

Lingula  curia  in  II, *2/l 

Little  Bald  Eagle  Creek, 

Little  bank,      

Little  Fishing  creek, 12,37,154,183,185 

Little  gap  in  Stone  mtn., 

Little  (or  Black)  Moshannon, 7,53,85 

Little  run 271 

29  T. 


450  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'iXVILLIERS. 

Page. 

Little  Sandy  creek  coals  described, 8,82,*100 

Little  Sandy  (or  Cherry)  run, 131 

Little  Sugar  Valley, 48 

Local  Map  of  the  Penna.  Furnace  Iron  Ore  Banks  in  1874,  .   .   .    374 

Lock  Haven,  6,9,166;  (Uastanea,)  576'  A.  T.,  20;  (junction,)  555'  A.  T.,  .      17 

Logan  bank,  138;  (old,) .   .    311 

Logan's  Branch,  *11, 154, 158,259, 309,314 

Logan's  branch  gap  and  section,      312 

Logan  (old)  furnace, 159,259,263 

Logan  ore  bank  described, 158 

Logan  township,     2 

Logvvay  run, 8,96,97 

Long's,  (Jos.,) 166,167 

Long,  (Martin,)  tract, 83 

Long  estate 65 

Long  &  Yearick 318 

Long's  place, 334 

Long's  saw-mill, 14 

Long's  cave  described, 334 

Long  (Paddy)  mountain, 333 

Loop  (the)  in  Potter  township,  Centre  Co., 15 

Loop  Valley, 15 

Loop  in  Tussey, 328,329 

Loop  road,         - 331,332 

Love,  (Abram,) 354,356 

Love,  (M.,) house, 154 

Love  bank, 202 

Lovetown,     226,358,359,365 

Lovetown  bank,      138,353 

Loveville.  (siding  on  L.  &  T.  R.  R.,)     202,205 

Lower  Freeport  coal  bed  D,  (Moshannon  bed,;       53,55 

Lower  Helderberg,  (or  Lewistown,)  limestone  for  No.  VI, 253 

275, 281, 284, 298, *429 

Lower  Productive  Coal  Measures 51,57,59,116 

Lower  Silurian  brown  hematite  ores  of  Penna.,        372 

Lower  Silurian  or  Siluro-Cambrian  lime-tones  No  II, 301 

Lucas,  52 

Lucas,  (C.,)  Sr's., , 285 

Lucas,  (J.,) 63 

Lucas  hill,     64  to  74 

Lukenbach  mills, 15 

Lump  ore, 406 

Lunulicardium  fragUis  m  Vlllb, 433 

Lutz's  farm 187,308 

Lycoming  county, 1,2 

Lyons,  (Penn.  furnace  station,)  1,074',  A.  T.,    .   .   .   ' 19 

Lyon,  (George,)      229,232,369,370,379 

Lyons,  (Stewart,) 379 

Lyons,  (Thomas.) 379 

Lyon,  Shorb  <fc  Co., 202,353 

Lytle  bank  flat,  (1323'  A.  T.,) 19 


INDEX.  T.  451 

Page. 

Lytle  bank,  (1323  A.  T.,)      138,207,224,22o,305,353,360,*359 

Lytle  bank  ore  analyzed  by  Dr.  Genth, 384 

Maclurea  magna  in  No.  II,      423 

Madisonburg,  42,321 

Madisonburg  gap, 13 

furnace  gap,      319 

Madisonburg  (Johnson)  gap, 48,321 

Madisonburg  gap  section, 35 

Madismburg  road, 344 

Mann's  axe  factory, 11,259 

Marble  beds,  .  417 

Marcel  1  us  slates  of  No.  VIII, , 269 

black,       275,288,294,295,432 

Marengo  City, 323 

Markle  bank, 138,190,191,192,305 

Markle's  gap 13,321 

Marion  T-,      12,197,278,290,301,316,317 

Marsh  creek, ...          .       9 

north  branch,        268,295,297,298,299 

Marsh  creek  divide, 267 

country, 289 

Martha  furnace,      198,199,201,260,261,273,306,430 

Martha  station,  (912'  A.  T.,) 17 

Martin  Long  tract  coals, 83 

Matilda,  433 

Matinal  shales,  (Hudson  riverslate,) 304 

Mattern's  (George)  farm,      201,410 

Mattern  (J.  B.,) 430,433 

Mattern,  J.  &  G  ,       199,411 

Mattern's  (Jacob  &  Miles)  quarry, 306 

Mattern's  (Miles)  farm,         201 

Mattern  store, 410 

Matternville .218,273,306,411,424,425 

Maucli  Chunk  red  shale  No.  XI, 47,56,267,268,286 

Mayes,  (Thomas,) 63,326 

McAllister, 227,271 

McBride's  gap, 11,47,309,328 

McCafferty  Bros,  quarry, 285 

McCalrnout  (J.)  farm, 165 

McCalmont  bank,          138 

ore  bank  described, I65 

McClanahan  (P-  lly)  tract, 

McClelland  tract, 81'10^ 

McCloskey,  (Red  Dave,) ! 

McCloskey,  (D.,) w 

McCormick's  run, 9»277 

McCoy,  Frank, '  ' 

McCoy,  (W.,) 165,172,189,197,251,252,269 

McCoy's,  (J.,) 331 

McCoys,  (J.  W.,) 3: 

McCoy  &  Divens, 1( 


452  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVILLIERS. 

Page. 

McCoy  &  Linn, 164,171,175,177,195,251 

McCoy's  operations,      177 

McCreatb,  (A.  S.,)  .  .  .  .66,70,71,80,94,101,103,104,106,117,128,142,144,146, 
147,150,152,156,165,168,170,177,178,194,197,200,201,211 
222, 221,  225,  234,239,242,250,252,253,254,255 

McCreath's  report  M*,  .   .       .       .  313 

McCreath's  report  on  the  "Mineral  Wealth  of  Virginia," 262 

McDowell  <fe  Rodgers, •   • 291 

McGarvey  hill,  123 

McKinney's  bank,      30,138,172  to  174,185,358,359,360 

McKnight's  farm,          188 

McManus,  (Jas.,)  tract, 96,97 

McMaster's  ore,  103 

McMullen,  Ambrose, 171 

McQuillan's  old  house, 294 

MearsifcCo.,          112 

Medina  synclinal, 321 

Medina  mountain  crest,  ridge,  No.  IV, 278,290,291,295,310,321 

Medina  SS.  Formation  No.  IV, 268,269,307,428 

Medina  (upper)  white  sandstone, 273,309,310 

Mehaffey,  Lindsay, 172 

Merista  lata  in  VII, 431 

Messiah  church, 277 

M.  E.  church, 189,273 

Middle  Silurian,      268 

Midland  coal  company,     92,93,94,98,101 

Mifflin  county, 1,2 

Miller's 18,118,159,237,271 

Miles,  (Col.  Samuel,) 258 

Milesburg,  .    .  5,6,10,12,167,174,177,194,260,269,279,281,282,287,424,431 

Milesburg  station,  (700'  A.  T.,) 17 

Milesburg  gap,        281 

Milesburg  road        283,311 

Milesburg  company,     354 

Milesburg  furnace,        251 

Milesburg  iron  works,  .   .    163,171,174,181,189,192,193,194,195,196,251,260,264 

Milesburg  quarries 430 

Miles,  Dunlap  &  Co., 259 

Miles' run,  .  .' 7,123,125,131 

Miles  township,  1,6;  described,       314 

Millhall,  35, 172, 181, 316;  station  (573'  A.  T.,) 17 

Mill  Hall  gap, 12 

Mill  Hall  furnaces, 167 

Millheim,         6,48,340,341 

Millheim  gap,  Brush  mtn.,  very  fine,  16,322:  road, 340,346 

Millheim  church,        ' 340 

Millheini-Coburn  pike, 43,44 

Milliken's  house, ' 141,157 

Mining  methods,  by  J.  W.  Harden, 395 

Mitchell's  field,    .   .  246 

Modiolopsis  curia  in  III,       427 


INDEX.  T4.  453 

Page. 

Modiolopsis  modiomorpha  in  III, 427 

Monroe  furnace, 246,378 

Moore's  run,      7 

Moose  run, 9,287 

Moran's,  (J.,)  1450'  A.  T., 310 

Morris,  W  barton, 181 

Morris,  A.  G.,       312 

Morris'  lime  quarry, 40 

Morrisdale,  55,105 

Morrisdale-Philipsburg-Osceola  trough,  (see  re  port  H7,) 46 

Morrison's  camp,      92,95 

Mosquito  run,  321 

Moshannon  village,  .          ....       47,55 

Moshannon  creek,  (mouth  of  is  850'  A.  T.,)  .  1,2,6,56,114,121,122,130 

Moshannon  creek  levels,    (Beaver  run  1447',)  (Bear  run  1470',)    (Mtn. 

branch  1488', )  (Whiteside  run  1491',)  .      21 

Moshannon  creek,  crossing  of  B.  C.  C.  &  S.  W.  RR.,  water,  (1263',)  grade, 

(1374',)    ....  '20 

Moshannon  creek,  T.  <fe  C.  RR.  1442', 18 

Moshannon  run,  (Big,)  8 

Moshannon  run,  (Little  or  Black,) 8 

Moshannon  tunnel,   B.  C.  C.  &  S.  W.  RR.,  (surface  of  ground  1643') 

(grade  1489',)  9,20 

Moshannon  tunnel  mines, 86,89 

Moshannon  Coal  and  Lumber  Co.,     63 

Moshannon  region, 124 

Motz's  saw-mill,      349 

Mt.  Eagle  station,  (622'  A.  T..) 17,292 

Mt.  Hecla  bank,      .    .  174 

Mt.  Pleasant  station,  (1784'  A.  T.,) 18,265,266 

Mountain  branch, 114 

Mountain  house, 295 

Mountains  of  Oneida, 48 

Mountain  branch,  mouth  in  Moshannon  creek,  (1488' A.  T.,) 7,21 

Mowery's,  (H.,)     347 

Moyer's,  (J.,) 332 

Mud  Lick  run, 9,274 

Muddy  run,  (Buchanan,)  1059', 19 

Munson's  mill,     .  HI 

Murchisonia  gracilis  in  III, 427 

Murctiisonia  gracilis  in  II, 424 

Musquito  run,      .  ] 

Musser  farm  of  McCoy  and  Linn, 189 

Musser's  house,  327 

Mussert  and  Gepheart's  old  mill, 3' 

Myers',  (Mike,)  farm,  3: 

Narrows  in  Miles  t,  described, 345 

Nee's  house 3] 

New  bank, 23° 

New  Columbia, 42 

Newcomer,  J.  B., 84,130,131 


454  T4.     KEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lNVLLLIERS. 

Page. 

Newell  bank, 138,190,195,196,305 

Newell  &  Pond,  (horizon,) 198 

Nigh  bank,  138,141,*154,311 

Nippenose  valley, 30,322 

Nittanyhali,         169 

Nittany  post-office, 182 

Nittany  mountain,  3, 11, *25,47-49, 172, 235,243, 248,251,301, 309, 316,319,  (in 

Potter)  329,  (in  Gregg,)  .  333 

Nittany  mtn.  at  Hecla  furnace,  (1874'  A.  T.,) 21,428 

Nittany  mountain  synclinal,  249,314,415,425 

Nittany  mountain  road,  .   .  315 

Nittany  mtn.  B.  &  L.  turnpike,  (1657',)      21 

Nittany  valley, l,3,*26,47,136,166,169,185,199,(lower,)251,279 

282,301  to  304,  314,  (lower,)321, (barrens, )249 

Nittany  valley  anticlinal  axis  described, *29,187,189 

273, 311, 306, 323, *403;  overturned,  411 

Nittany  valley  road 321 

Nittany  valley  hematites, 257 

Nittany  valley  ores,       359 

No.  II  strata  in  some  places  entirely  composed  of  fossils, 424 

No.  II,  upper  bed, *417 

No.  Ill  described, 37,424 

No.  V  described,     429 

No.  VI  described,       . 429 

No.  VII  described 430 

No.  VIII  described,       432 

No.  VIIIc  described,        433 

Northern  summit,  Allegheny  mtn.,  (2281' A.  T.,) 21 

Northumberland  county, 1,2 

Nyman's,  (R.,) 288 

Oak  Hall,  424,425 

Oak  Hall  mills,  (1029'  A.  T.,) 12,20 

Oneida  sandstone,  48,49,305,306,309,428,310,321 

Oneida  terrace  mountain,    . 47,291,295,307,310,321,322 

Ore  mine  groups, 138 

Ore  ranges, 408 

Ore  of  XI,  ...  129 

Oriskany  sandstone  ridge,  No.  VII, 284, 269,293, 299, *430 

Oriskany  iron  ore,          293 

Orr  (O.  P.)  farm, 165 

Orthis  in  V, .    429 

Orthis  limitaris  in  VIII  b,     432 

Ortkis  Lynx  }  in  II,      424 

Orthis  musculosa  1  in  VII, 431 

Orthis  pectenalinea  ?  in  II, 424 

Orthis  testudinaria  in  II,      424 

Orthis  testudinaria  in  III, 427 

Orthis  tricenaria  in  II, 424 

Orthis  subcequalis  in  II,     424 

Orthis  subquadrata  in  III, 427 

Orthoceras  in  III, 427 


INDEX.  T4.  455 


Orthonota  in  III,    ................  ^ 

Orthonota  undulata  in  VIII  b,   .........  433 

Orvis,  Williams  &  Co.  's  mine,  ..........  '     68  77  82  108 

Osceola'  .....    ........  6,55,104,105,108 

Osceola  branch  R.  R.  junction,  (1488'A.  T.,)  .......  jg 

Osceola  dam  pool,  (1447'  A.  T.,)    .............  .    20  112 

Osceola  mine,  (drift,)         .................   '   '   '   '  uiflia)lll 

Osman's  farm,  crcss-road,     ................  252*326 

Oswald's  place,  ....................  337 

Packer  (Job)  drift,    ...................  '     94 

Packer'^,  (Mrs.,)    ..."  ................   ......          '.   295 

Paddy  (Long)  mountain,  14,45,328,333,338,343;  terrace,     .....    '.   '   '    350 

Paddy  mountain  tunnel,  (959'  A.  T.,)       ................     19 

Paint  springs  in  V,  ......................  429 

Painter's  mountain  and  valley,  ....................  346,347 

Palaeozoic  series,    .........................  267,279,301 

Panther  creek,   ...........................     92,98 

Panther  run  gap,  in  Brush  mtn.,   ...................       8,16 

Pancake  mills,  (1410  A.  T.,)      ...................  20,76,91 

Pardoe's,     ................................    310 

Parsons,  ........  ....................    274 

Pattoii  (Ann)  tract,  1^7;  Col.  John,  258  ;  (T.,)     ............       324 

Patton  township,  ....................  189,201,218,301  to  308 

Patton-Half  Moon  township  line,    ..........  ...    199 

Patton-Benner  township  line,  load,  B.  &  B.  R.  R.'R.,  (961  A.  T.,)19,189,307,310 
Paternoster  chain,  ..........................        145 

Peale,    ...........................  46,53  to  55,89,122 

Pearlspar,  ...............................    392 

Pemberton,  H  ...............................    314 

Penn  Hall,     ............................  43,335,336 

Penn  township,  ..........................     6,*339 

Penn'screek,  .................    .......  6,  *13,  45,  49,342 

Penn  's  creek  issues  from  a  cave,  ...................    422 

Penn's  creek,  head  water,  (1136'  A.  T.,)  ................     21 

Penn's  creek  gap  described,  .......................    342 

Penn's  creek  hollow,    .........................    348 

Penn's  valley,    ................  3,  *26,  48,  49,  136,  137,  232,  249,251 

Penn's  valley  anticlinal  axes  described,      ......  *43,235,253,330,336,*340 

Penn's  valley  cave,  ..........................  14,48 

Penn's  valley  drainage,    ...................       .....      13 

Penn's  valley  group,         ...    ......................    138 

Penn's  valley  narrows  axis  described,  .................     44 

Penn's  Valley  Mining  Co.  's  mine,  .............  185,254,331 

Pennington  farm,     ........................      189,190 

Pennington,  359;  bank,  .......................  3,389,396 

Pennsylvania  railroad,     .........................  6,52 

Pennsylvania  furnace,    ...    .....................  13,208, 

214,227,229,236,238,257,261,323,359,361-2,357,413 
Penna.  Furnace  Company,    ..........   .............    208 

Penna.  furnace  property,     ......................  218,224 

Penna.  furnace  and  College  group  ....................    138 


456  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.      E.  V.  D'lJSTVILLIERS. 

Page. 

Penna.  furiiace,  353,368;  ore  bank,  373, 378, *413;  how  mined, 396 

Penna.  furnace,  old  surface  pits, 371 

Penna.  (old,)  furnace  workings, 212 

Penna.  furnace,  old  banks  sketched,  376 

Penna.  furnace,  pump  and  aqueduct,  (Fig.  38,) 375 

Penna.  and  Ross-Stover  banks, 247 

Penna.  Steel  Company,     .   .  117,212 

Penna.  Salt  Manufacturing  Company, 314' 

Penna.  bank  ore  analyzed,  387 

Penna.  bank  limestone  analyzed,          3912,394 

Peter's  (J.,)  270,272;  (G.  L.,)  276;  (B,)  ......' •  .   .    327 

Petroleum,  432 

Phacops  bufo,  in  VIII  b., 433 

Pleasant  valley,  48  ;  trough .         36 

Philadelphia  colliery 112,122,241 

Philips,  (Hardman,)      259 

Philipsburg, 6, 55, 105, 115, 259;  station,  (1425' A.  T.,)      18 

Philipsburg-Osceola  district  described,  *104  ;  (basin,) 53 

Philipsburg-Snow  Shoe-Beech  creek,  first  basin, 52 

Philipsburg  and  Tyrone  pike,        .  117,271 

Philipsburg  grade,  B.C.C.&S.  W.  RR.,  (1425',) 20 

Philipsburg  mines, 109,110 

Phoenix  mine,  .   .  108 

Phosphorus  in  iron  ore, 389.390 

Pierpoint,  (Jas.,) x, 120, 198, 201, 208, 209, 211, 212, 211,215 

Pinecreek,*15,16,49;  (sinks,) 349 

Pine  creek,  (George's  valley,)  axis, 341,349 

Pine  creek  hollow,        .  15,16,43,48,49 

Pine  Glen  post-office,  128 ;  tavern,  130  ;  school-house, 84 

Pine  Glen,  Hyner  axis,      8,52,56,57,69,84,95,121,267 

Pine  Glen-Buttermilk  falls  road,  .  123 

Pinegrove  village,  238,245,413,424,324;  Station  RR.  (1236' A.  T.,)          .    .      19 

Pinegrove  mills,       11,12,246,371,378 

Pinegrove  furnace  banks, 395 

Pine  Grove  gap, 325 

Pine  Grove  range, 247 

Pine  run, 8,70,122,123 

Pipe  ore  analyzed, 388 

Pipe  ore  in  cave,      418 

Pipes  broken  off, 419 

Pittsburgh, 221,259 

Plant,  177 

Platt,  (F.,)  v,66,68,102,128,362;   (Col.  G.  H.,)  x,80,87;  (W.  G.,)  .    .      v,x,62 

Pleasant  gap  in  Nittany  mtn., 11,12,311,315,426,428 

Pleasant  gap  fossils,       427 

Pleasant  mountain,        ....    321 

Pleasant  furnace,  (Curtin  Bros.  &  Co.,) 143,147,260,263,284 

Pleasant  valley, 301,317,322 

Fletcher's,  (R.,) 292,295 

Pleurotomaria?  in  II, 423 

Pleurotomaria  lenticulans  in  II, 424 


INDEX.  T4.  457 

Page. 

Plumbe,  (John,  sr.,) 259 

Pocono  sandstone,  For.  No.  X, 47,56,267,271,274,287,289,299 

Poe  creek,  350 

Poe  valley,  14,16,343;  anticlinal  axis, *45,49,338,350 

Point  McCoy, 278 

Pond  bank,    ...  362,138,185, 

189  to  198,208,212,305,*361,411,423;  No.  1  ore  analyzed,  385  ;  No.  4,  353 

Pond  or  Gross  farm, 192 

Poorman's,  (D.  C.,) 288 

Pope,  (Jas.,)  77,78 

Port  Matilda,  (1007'  A.  T.,) 17,272,273,305,429 

pike,  56;  road  to  Phililpsburg,  272 

Portage  group  in  Formation  No.  VIII, 270,276,287,294,298 

Potter  (Joshua)  farm, 252 

Potter  township, 1,6,251 ,253, 254, *329, 316 

Potter's  mills 15,329,331,332 

Pottsville  (Serai)  conglomerate  No.  XII, 51,52 

Potsdam  sandstone,    ...  .          412 

Potsdam  SS.  No.  I,  nowhere  at  the  surface, 31,303 

Powell  (R.  H.)  &  Co.,  120,211 

Powelton station,  (1798' A.  T.,) 18,104,105 

Powelton  mill, 105 

Powelton  section, 108 

Powelton  clay  bank,     108 

Powelton  tire-clay  bank, 118 

Pratt's,(G.,) 308 

Pre-meridian,  (Lower  Helderberg  or  Lewistowu  limestone,) 279 

Presbyterian  church, 286 

Productella  in  Chemung, 433,434 

Psilomelane,     391 

Puddingtou  banks, 41,138,244,245,247 

Pyrolusite,         •• 391 

Quartz  crystals, 417 

Quartz  in  ore  and  limestone,  393 ;  analyzed, 397 

Queen's  run,     5? 

Quick's  house 79 

Quinn,  F 185 

Quinn  bank, 138,173,177 

Quinn'srun, 1 

Quarry  of  flagstone, 39 

Quarries  of  limestone, 40 

Rag  valley, 37,321 

Ralston, 166 

Ramsey,  (Geo.,) 74 

Ramsey,  (Robert,) ' x 

Rattlesnake  hotel, 277 

Rattlesnake  knob, 276,277 

Reaserfarm 189 

Rebersburg, 16,42,48,344,345 

Red  bank, 138, 174,213,222,311, 353,*362,370 

Bed  bank  of  Dry  hollow, 39° 


458  T4.      KEPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D'INVILLIERS. 

Page. 

Red  bank,  No.  1,  ore  analyzed, 386 

Red  ore  bank  described,       144,145 

Red  Lick  run, 130 

Red  mill,  15 

Reed's  saw-mill  on  Pine  creek, 16 

Reed's,  (W.,)     x, 192, 195 

Reed's  mill, 349 

Reese's, 278 

Reider's  bank,  353 ;  described, 364 

Rensselveria  ovoides  in  VII,     431 

Rensselceria  suessiana  in  VII, 431 

Reside's  intersection,  288 

Reservoir  hill,  (Philipsburg,) ; Ill 

Reynold's  farm  and  mill, 187,308 

Rhinehart's  place, 349 

Rhoad's  lands, 83 

Richards'  place, 273 

Riddle's  house, 294 

Riley,  (Edward,)  F.  C.  S.,  (Analysis,) 234 

River  hill  tract,     192,218,224 

Rock, 308 

Rock  forge, 258 

Rock  spring  village, 13,325 

Rock  run  crossing,  B.  C.  C.  &  S.  W.  RR.  (1470'  A.  T.,) 20,86,90,91 

Rockville, 345,346,347 

Rodgers'  farm,        182 

Rogers,  (Prof.  H.  D.,)    .    .  172,173,175,273,279,281,291,302,303,312,318,322,412 

Roop  farm, 227,324 

Roopsburg 12,32,41,307 

Roopsburg  grist-mill, 310 

Ross,  (A.  B.,)  ore, 416 

Ross,  (D.,) 324 

Ross,  ( James  M.,)  ,    .   .   .    , 250 

Ross,  (John,)  farm, 246,252,378 

Ross  bank, 246,247,249 

Ross  farm, 420 

Ross  flat,     250 

Ross, 138 

Rotherick,  Dr., 174 

Round  Head,  49 ;  synclinal, 348 

Royer's, 330 

Rowan's, 275 

Rudy,  (M.,)  mill, 16,42,345 

Rumbarger  bank, 389 

Runkler's 331 

Rush  township, 53,259,265,273,275,277 

Runkle,  (J.  P.,) 138,253 

Salt  Lick, 56,121,124,267 

Sand-rock  analyzed, 338 

Sand-seams,          406 

Sanders,  (R.  H.,) 278,303 


INDEX.  T4.  459 

Page. 

Sandy,  (Tadpole.)  ridge 12,13,30, 

3-3,101,112,119,120,163  to  167,171,179  to  185,227,237,266,305,323,333 

Sand  mountain  in  Union  oo.,  42 

Sandy,  (Tadpole,)  ridge,  anticlinal, *33, 229, 235, 240, 248, 326 

Sand  ridge  barrens,  152 

Sandy  Ridge  fire-clay  works,        115 

Sandy  Ridge  fire-clay, (analysis,) 117,118 

Sandy  ridge  station,  (1912' A.  T.,) 18,56 

Sandy  ridge  stream, 180 

Sandy  run, 47 

Sanky  (John)  farm, 252 

Saylor  land,         97 

Scbenck,  (Mr.,)  298 

Schizocrinus  nodosus  in  II, 424 

Schuylkill  furnaces,      136 

Schwartz,  (A.,)      161,309 

Schwartz,  (G.,) 341 

Schwartz,  J.  &  L., 180 

Schwartz  bank, 37,138,180 

Schwartz  lane, 181 

Scotia, vi, 134, 185,194,221,224,304,411 

Scotia  bank, 138,192,207,218,305,317 

Scotia  bank  neighborhood  described, 410 

Scotia  and  Juniata  plant, 221 

Scotia-J  uniata  deposits, 226 

Scotia- Juniata  range  of  ore, 205,230 

Scotia  ore  mine  wells, 31.410 

Scotia  road, .* 202 

Scotia  slanting  bars, 215 

Scott  bank,      225,305 

Second  (or  Karthaus)  basin,  .   . 46 

Sections  described 35  to  42 

Selinsgrove, 6,14 

Sellers,  (1005'  A.  T.,)  19;  farm,  189;   (P.  A.,) 306 

Seven  Mile  run,  7,69,83,130;  hill,  78,84 

Seven  mountains, 3,10,13,26,49,279,290,301,*332,*337,342,350 

Shank's  quarries, 297 

Sharrow's  run  and  house, 270,271 

Shingletown,        12 

Shorb,  (Lyon,  Shorb  &  Co.,) , 353 

Shortlidge  quarry,  3! 

Short  Mountain  synclinal 25,44,348 

Shugert,  (John  D.,)          

Shugart's  station,  (1131',) 19 

Silurian  (lower)  measures, 301 

Sink  hole  of  Long's  cave 341,346 

Sink  near  Woodward,  . 


16 

Sinkholes,        .    .   . 421,423 

Sinking  creek, 138,254,328,331,418 

Sinking  creek  marsh, 328,329 

Sinking  creek  mills, ] 


460  T4.     REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  D^IXVILLIERS. 

Page. 

Sinking  cr.  (Wagner)  ore  bank, 15,137,185,250,254,330 

Six  Mile  run,  B.  C.  C.  &  S.  W.  RR.,  (1353'  A.  T.,)  7,20,53,56,111 

Skirts'  (J.)  house, 274 

Slab  Cabin  branch, *11,244 

Slab  Cabin  run, 41,246,324,326 

Sleepy  hollow, 370 

Small  creek, 56 

Smith  bank, 166 

Smith  &  Rhodes, 67,83 

Smith's  (W.)  private  lane, 307 

Snavely,  (Henry,)  182 

Snavely  bank, 35,138,182 

Snow  Shoe,  6,7,52,55,115,122,125,269,277 

Snow  Shoe  RR.  (722' A.  T.,)  17,70,284;  station,  (157;i' A.  T.,)  18 

Snow  Shoe  summit,  B.  C.  C.  &  S.  W.  RR.,  (1617'  A.  T.,)  .......  8,20 

Snow  Shoe  intersection  and  Milesburg 278,282 

Snow  Shoe- Beech  creek  coal  basin 7,8,46,*63,257 

Snow  Shoe-Philipsburg  first  basin, 56 

Snow  Shoe  section,  Fig.  1, 59 

Snow  Shoe  tunnel  mines, 53 

Snow  Shoe  Land  Co., .  63,90,98 

Snow  Shoe  line, 267 

Snow  Shoe  township 265,266,299 

Snyder  county, 1,6 

Snyder  farm,  227,324 

Snyder's  (H.)  fields, 238 

Snydertown,  181 

Soil's  camp, • 101 

Solution  of  lime  rocks,  420 

Sommerville,  (Jas.  L.,) ix, 59,72,78, 103, 104 

Southey  &  Co. 's  steam  excavators,  210 

Sparrow's  Run,  .  9 

Spirifer  periamellosa  1  in  VI, 430 

Spirifer  arenonus  in  VII, 431 

Spirifer  arrectus  in  VII, 431 

Spirifer  in  VIII  b,  432 

Spirifer  disjuncta  in  Chemung, 434 

Spirifer  mesocostalis  in  Chemung, 434 

Spirifer  mesostrialis  ?  in  Chemung,  434 

Spirifer  mucronata  in  Chemung, ....  433 

Splash  dam, 81,92 

Spotts'  place,  273 

Spring  Bank  village, 346 

Spring  creek,  5,10,11,40,158,245,247,258,260,278,279,281,307,308,309,312,412, 

423;  at  Dale's  mills,  (1000' A.  T.,)  20 

Spring  creek  forge,  259 

Spring  mills,  6,14,43,336,341,426;  RR.  depot,  (1086^' A.  T.,)  20;  Duncan 

station,  (1078')  .  19 

Spring  mill  intersection  with  L.  &  T.  RR.,  (1079',)  21 

Spring  run  branch  of  Sandy, 99 

Spring  run  hollow, 109 


INDEX.  T.  461 

Page. 

Spring  township, Il,184,301,303,307,309,*311,3i9 

Springfield  bank, .  209,223 

Spruce  creek 6,13,56,235,325,371,377  to  381 

Spruce  creek  anticlinal  ridge, 229,366 

Spruce  creek  valley, 353 

Spruce  run, 7,47,121,123,384 

State  Agricultural  College, 235,238,240,243,245,326,406,420 

State  College  well  core, 401 

Stations  17,  48,  49,  59  on  the  new  grade, 356 

Steel's  (W.)  place,        274 

Steiner's  mill  station,  (1428',) 18 

Stephens'  (A bed's)  fields, 354 

Stevenson's,  (1146',)  19 

Stewart's,  (D.,)  69,82;  sawmill,  84;  tract, 129 

Stewart,  (Dr.  M.  S.,) x 

Stiefel's, 78,85 

Stine,   (John,) 354 

Stirling  landing 126 

Stirling  &  Mears  mine,     114 

Stirling  road, 127,129 

Stirling  run 7,123,125,127 

Stirling  section, 126 

Stone  mtn., 16,348 

Stone  valley, 246 

Stormstown,      13,199,202,208,304,358,411 

Stover  bank,  138,246,327;  farm,  340, 345  ;  saw  mill, 349,417 

Stover-Ross  deposit,  .  249 

Streptelasma  corniculum  in  II, 424 

Streuble  (C.  H.)&Sons,       240,242 

Streuble  A  Johnson  mines, 243 

Streuble  ore  bank,  (1172'  A.  T.,) 19,138,240,422 

Strombodes  distortus  in  VIII  b, 433 

Strophomena  in  V, 429 

Strophomena  in  VII 431 

Strophomena  in  VIII  b, 432 

Strophomena  alternata  in  II, 424 

Strophomena  alternata  in  III, 427 

Strophomena  cayuta  in  Chemung, 434 

Strophomena  Chemungensis, 434 

Strophomena  rugosa  in  VI, 430 

Sub-carboniferous  rocks,       121,268 

Sugar  Camp,  64,77,99,131 ;  drift.  74  ;  hill,  46,52,64,73,76,99;  region,  ...      99 
Sugar  valley,  12,47,48;  little,  321;  upper,  321;  western,  321;  anticlinal 

axis,        322,34.4 

Summit  of  All.  Mtn.  (1500' to  2300' A.  T.,) 23 

Summit,  Blair  Co., (1110'  A.  T.,) 17 

Summit  on  B.  N.  V.&C.  RR.,  (1110'  A.  T.,)      20 

Summit  on  B.  &  S.  S.  RR  ,  (1735'  A.  T.,) 18 

Summit,   (Briartown  )  B.  C.  C.  <fc  S.  W.  RR.,  (1603' A.  T.,)     20 

Summit  cut, •  •  •     ! 

Summit,  Emig'sgap,  (2028'  A.  T.,) 21 


462  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  Y.  D'lXVILLIERS. 

Page. 

Summit  grade,  B.  B.  R.  RR.  (1246' A.  T.,) 19 

Summit  of  Perm's  valley,  on  L.  *  T.  RR.,  (1290'  A.  T.,)      19 

Summit  (Snow  Shoe)  B.  C.  C.  <fc.  S.  W.  RR.,  (1617'  A.  T.,)  ......      20 

Sunbury,  ...  6 

Sunbury  &  Tyrone  RR., 249 

Sunnyside  quarries,  312 

Surgent,  (Clinton,)  calcareous  layers, 273 

Susquehanna  river,  1,6,11,47,56,121,123,267 

Susquehanna  &  Clearneld  RR., 122 

Swift  run,       45 

Switch  Back,  No.  1,     3,4,285 

Swoyer's  quarry, 281,282 

Tadpole  run,       .       227,370,371,381 

Tadpole  or  Sand  ridge, 13,33,227,323 

Tangascootic  basin, 57,92 

Tar  bank,          195 

Tar  Hollow  bank, 198,305 

Taylor  bank,       138,148,151,265,271,311 

Taylor  township, 6,269,272,305 

Tentaculites  in  VIII  b, 432 

Terrace  ridge, 36 

Thick  head,  mountain,  knob,  or  ridge, 45,328,333 

Thomas  estate, 77,189,190,191 

Thomas,  (W.,) 67,244 

Thomas,  (W.  A.,) 63 

Thomas's  gap, 328 

Thompson's,  (Hiram,)  cross  roads,  (1070' A.  T.,) 19 

Thompson   (John.)          192.199,201 

Thompson,  (Mr.  J.  I.,)      x,20l,242,258 

Thompson,  Moses, 196,224,245 

Thompson's,  (W.,)  meadows  and  qmrry, 326 

Thompson's, 298,412,422 

Thick  Head, 15 

Three  Rock  run, 92,95 

Three  Spring  gap.     Northern  summit,  2281' ;  highest  ground,  2614',    ...      21 

Tibben's  farm,         .  164 

Tow  Hill,  134,  194,  305  ;  mines, 138,208 

Trczuylny  land,      139 

Trematospera  (?)  in  VI, 430 

Trenton  group,  Form  No.  II,  400'  ±  thick, 40,41,230,  302  to  310, *4 17 

Trenton  fossils,     411,419 

Trenton  ridge,  .   .       315 

Tressler's,  (J.,) 189,250 

Triester's  valley, 15,49,333 

Trinucleus  concentricus  in  II, 424 

Trinucleus  concentricus  in  III, 427 

Tropidoleptus  carinatus  in  VIII  b,      433 

Trout  run,          .       7 

Tru  11  inger  lands, 47,71,82,^99 

Tunnel  through  Paddy's  mtn.,  L.  AT.  RR,  (959',) 'l9 

Tunnel  (Beaver  dam,)  L.  &  T.  RR.,  (1014'  A.  T.,) 19 


INDEX.  T4.  463 


Tunnel,  (Hog  back,)  B.  C.  C.  &  S.  W.  RR.  (grade,)  (952'  A.  T.,)  .   .  .       ^0 
Tunnel,   (Moshanmn,)  B.  C.  C.  &  S.  W.  RR.,  surface  of  ground  (1643',) 
grade,  (1489',)  .......................      20 

Tunnel  in  Penn's  creek  gap,   .....................  342,350 

Tunnel  mines,  ............................  81,86,93 

Tusseyville,      ............................      10i33o 

Tussey  mountain,    .....  1,11,13,25,49,230,235,246,323,325,372,377  to  380 

Tussey  mountain  terrace,    .   .  ..............    328 

Tussey  Knob,  10,15,49,50,328,330;  synclinal,   ..............    332 

Turnpike  (B.  <fe  L.)  over  Nittany  mtn.,   (1657',)  .............     21 

Tylerville,  .    .  ..............    344 

Tyrone  level,  (895'  A.  T.,)  station,  (907  A.  T.,)  ...........  19,21,312 

Tyrone  road,  ...  .....................       276 

Tyrone  it  Clearfield  R.  R.  levels,    ...................  18,270 

Tyrone  A  Cleartield  pike,    ........................    265 

Twigg's  hollow,  ......................    108 

Two  Rock  and  Three  Rock  runs,  ...................  8,92,95 

Turner,  (Daniel,)    ............................    259 

Turner,  (S.,)          ..................    .   ........  272,274 

Underwood's  mill,  ............................     53 

Underwood  (Foust's)  valley,       .....................    333 

Union  county,      ..........................  1,2,48,274 

Union  township,       ...............         268,273,277,278,310 

(Jnionville  station,    (792'    A.   T.,)    17;    (782',)  276;  6,275,277,430,431,432,433 
Unionville  quarries,      ...  .....................    430 

Upper  Barren  (Permian)  measures,     ..................     51 

Upper  Productive  Coal  Measures,  ....................     51 

Upper  Helderberg,    ...........................  *432 

Utahville,    ...............................     55 

Utica  Slate,  No.  Ill,  described,     .....................   424 

Valentine  &  Thomas  tract,  .   ,   ......................      63 

Valentine  estate,  .........   .................    150 

Valentine,  (Ab.,)   (George,)   ....................  x,  161,261 

Valentine,  (Robert,)  ..................   ......  262,314 

Valentine,  (Messrs.,)  ...........  139,  '48,  154,  160,  171,  259,  263,  311,  317 

Valentine's  Bellefonte  forges,    ......................      11 

Valentine  furnace,     ...........................    314 

Vanderbilt  hotel,     ............................      72 

Van  Val/.ah  farm,     ............................    262 

Varieties  of  ore,  .............................    134 

Vaughn's  run,    .............................  9,270 

Viedorfer's,  (B.,)    ............................      64 

Voneda  (D.)  bank,    ......................  37,138,165,179 

Waddeil's,  (1104'  A.  T.,)     ...................  19,189,192,308 

Wagner,  (Bernard,)    .........................  187,254 

Wagner  place,      .............................    418 

Wallisrun,  ................  9,275,284,286,287,289 

Walker,  (Ed.,)  98;  (J.,)  95;  (P.,)  85;  (T.,)  321.  run,  96;  house,    .    .  127,287 
Walker's  cross-roads,    ..........................    2s6 

Walker's  summit,  ............................    286 

Walker  township  ..................  301,315,316,317,319 

Warrior's  Mark,  369  ;  valley,  353  ;  road,    .................   370 


464  T4.      REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.       E.  V.  O'lNVILLIERS. 

Page. 
Washington   furnace,   12,35,48,172,180,182,183,261,321,322;    properties,  169 

Washington  furnace  bank,      138,168 

Washington  gap,  319 ;  fossils, 427 

Watson,  (D.,) 138,288 

Watson  bank, 42,251,330,329 

Wavy  crest  of  anticlinal,     32 

Weasel's  run,  268 

Weaver's  house,  79,237,238,246,317;   (J.,)  324,335;   (A.,)  348;  ore,     .        .    416 

Weber  run,  55 

Wensel's  Run,     10 

Well  of  State  College, ' 420 

West  (W.)  tract 98,99 

Weston's  place, 272 

Wetharn  coals,         57 

Wetherill  (Sam)  tract, 90 

Whorell  bank, ...  226,353,365,386 

Whip  pie  farm,  (formerly  P.  Lytle,)     243 

Whitehall  road,   .    .  42,236,237,240,245,324 

White,  (J.,)  14,334;  (Capt.,)  123;  hill, 127 

White,  (Paul,)       6 

White  Deer  Knob, 345 

White  Deer  creek, 345 

White  Deer  synclinal,      345 

White  Mountain  Knob, 14 

Whiteside  run,  mouth  in  Moshannon  creek,  (1491'  A  T.,) 21,114 

Whitmer  run,  from  Stone  mtn., 16,348 

Wilcox,  Mr., x,120 

Wild  Cat  hollow, 89 

Williams,  (F.,)  273,274  ;  run,  9,274  ;  (J.,) 287 

Williamson's  coal  mine, 110 

Williamson's  run, Ill 

Williamsport, 166 

Wiser's,  (J.,)        273 

Woodward,  16,43,44,48,349;  road, 347 

Wolfs  (J.,)  331;  store,      345,347 

Wolf  run, 8,91,92,96,98 

Woolman,  (Uriah.)  tract 160 

Worth  township, 270,271,274,305 

Worthington  engine  and  pump, 233,377 

Wryebank, 227,354,357,358,389 

Wuth's,  (Dr.  Otto,)  analyses,       394 

Yardley,  (W.,)  tract, 94 

Yarnell,  (T.,) 324 

Yeagher's  ore, 103 

Yether's,  (D.,) 434 

Yost's  run,       7,122 

Yearick's,  (S.,) 334 

Yearick  &  Long, 318 

Zimmerman's,  (A.  T.,)  farm,  131,164,171,318;  ore  bank, 138,163 

Zion,  12, 171, 315, 407;  road, 37 

Zones  farm,     190,191 

Znphrentis  in  VI, 430 


THE  PUBLICATIONS 

OF   THK 

SECOND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


REPORTS  FOR  1874,  1875,  1876,  1877, 1878,  1879, 1880,1881, 1882,  AND  1883-1884. 

Reports  have  been  issued  by  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  and  the  prices 
thereof  fixed  in  accordance  with  the  law  authorizing  their  publication,  as  fol- 
lows : 

ANTHRACITE  COAL  FIELDS. 

A2.  SPECIAL  REPORT  TO  THE  LEGISLATURE  UPON  THE  CAUSES,  KINDS, 
AND  AMOUNT  OF  WASTE  IN  MINING  ANTHRACITE.  By  Franklin  Platt, 
Assistant  Geologist,  with  a  chapter  on  the  METHODS  OF  MINING.  By  John 
Price  Wetherill,  Mining  Engineer.  Illustrated  by  35  figures  of  mining  opera- 
tions, a  PLAN  OF  THE  HAMMOND  COAL  BREAKER,  on  the  Girard  estate,  and  a 
SPECIMEN  SHEET,  scale  800  feet  to  1  inch,  ^Oi)ths  of  nature,  illustrating  the 
PROPOSED  PLAN  OF  MAPPING  THE  ANTHRACITE  FIELDS.  By  Chas.  A.  Ash- 
burner,  Assistant  Geologist,  1881.  8  vo.,  pp.  134.  Price,  $  1  10 ;  postage,  fO  12. 

AC.  REPORT  ON  THE  MINING  METHODS  AND  APPLIANCES  used  in  the 
Anthracite  Coal  Fields.  By  H.  M.  Chance :  with  an  atlas  of  25  plates ;  54  plates 
and  60  illustrations  in  the  text.  Price,  $1  40;  postage,  $0  25. 

AC.  ATLAS.  Coal  Mining  Plates  I  to  XXV.  By  H.  M.  Chance.  Price, 
f  1  40 ;  postage,  JO  12. 

AA.  FIRST  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  ANTHRACITE  REGION,  with  a 
description  of  the  Geology  of  the  Panther  Creek  Basin,  or  Eastern  End  of  the 
Southern  Field.  By  Chas.  A.  Ashburner,  Geologist  in  Charge ;  with  an  atlas 
of  13  sheets  of  maps  and  sections ;  6  page  plates,  and  2  folded  plates  in  the 
Report.  Appendix  A  :  Determination  of  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  Wilkes 
Barre  and  Pottsville.  By  Prof.  C.  L.  Doolittle.  Appendix  B :  Theory  of 
Stadia  Measurements,  with  tables.  By  Arthur  Winslow,  assistant.  1883,  8  vo., 
pp.  xlvii  and  407.  Price,  fO  58 ;  postage,  80  18. 

AA.  ATLAS  SOUTHERN  ANTHRACITE  FIELD, VOLUME  I,PANTHER  CREEK* 
to  accompany  First  Report  of  Progress  AA,  1882.  Contains  13  sheets,  as  fol- 
lows :  3  mine  sheets,  3  cross  section  sheets,  3  columnar  section  sheets,  1  top- 
ographical sheet,  and  1  coal  bed  area  sheet,  all  relatingto  the  PANTHER  CREEK 
BASIN  IN  CARBON  AND  SCHUYLKILL  COUNTIES;  also,  1  miscellaneous 
sheet,  "General  Preliminary  Map,  Anthracite  Coal  Fields,"  and  1  miscellane- 
ous sheet  containing  chart,showing  total  annual  production  of  Anthracite  since 
1820.  Chas.  A.  Ashburner,  Geologist  in  Charge,  and  A.  W.  Sheafer  and  Frank 
A.  Hill,  Assistant  Geologists.  Price,  f  1  50  ;  postage,  $0  12. 

AA.  ATLAS  WESTERN  MIDDLE  ANTHRACITE  FIELD,  Part  1,  1884.  Con- 
tains 11  sheets,  as  follows  :  4  mine  sheets  between  Delano  and  Locust  Dale,  3 
topographical  sheets  between  Quakake'  Junction  and  Mount  Carmel,  and  4 

NOTE.— *Single  sheets  of  the  Anthracite  Survey,  with  the  exception  of  those 
in  the  Panther  Creek  atlas,  can  be  purchased  by  addressing  Chas.  A.  Ash. 
burner,  Geologist  in  Charge,  907  Walnut  street,  Philadelphia. 
(1) 


cross-section  sheets,  all  relating  to  the  Mahanoy-Shamokin  Basin  in  Schuyi- 
kill,  Columbia,  and  Northumberland  counties.  In  press.  Chas.  A.  Ash- 
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Geologists.  Price,  §  ;  postage,  § 

AA»  ATLAS  NORTHERN  FIELD,  Part  I,  1884.  Contains  6  mine  sheets  be- 
tween Wilkes  Barre  and  Nanticoke,  3  cross-section  sheets  and  —  columnar 
section  sheets,  all  relating  to  the  Wyoming  Basin  in  Luzerne  county.  In 
press.  Chas.  A.  Ashburner,  Geologist  in  Charge,  and  Frank  A.  Hill,  Assist- 
ant Geologist.  Price,  $  ;  postage,  $ 

G2«  PART  II.  LOYALSOCK  COAL  BASIN,  SULLIVAN  COUNTY.  By  Frank- 
lin Platt.  (See  Reports  Central  Pennsylvania.) 


BITUMINOUS  COAL  FIELDS  AND  SURROUNDING  AREAS. 

F.  PART  II.     EAST  BROAD  TOP  DISTRICT,  HUNTINGDON  COUNTY.     By 
Chas.  A.  Ashburner.     (See  Reports  Central  Pennsylvania.) 

G.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  BRADFORD  AND  TIOGA  COUNTIES — 1874-8. 
I.  LIMITS  OF  THE  CATSKILL  AND  CHEMUNG  FORMATION.    By  Andrew 
Sherwood.    II.   Description  of  the  BARCLAY,  BLOSSBURG,   FALL  BROOK, 
ARNOT,  ANTRIM,  AND  GAINES  COAL  FIELDS,  and  at  the  FORKS  OF  PINE 
CREEK  IN  POTTER  COUNTY.    By  Franklin  Platt.    III.  ON  THE  COKING  OF 
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county  maps,  3  page  plates,  and  35  cuts.    8  vo.,  pp.  271.     Price,  f  1  00 ;  post- 
age, W  12. 

G2.  PART  II.  COAL  BASINS,  SULLIVAN  AND  LYCOMING  COUNTIES.  By 
Franklin  Platt.  (See  Reports  Central  Pennsylvania.) 

G3.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  1876-9.  The  Geology  of  POTTER  COUNTY, 
by  Andrew  Sherwood.  Report  on  the  COAL  FIELDS,  by  Franklin  Platt,  with 
a  colored  geological  map  of  the  county,  two  folded  plates,  and  two  page  plates 
of  sections.  8  vo.,  pp.  120.  Price,  $0  58;  postage,  fO  08. 

G4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.  Part  I.  GEOLOGY  OF  CLINTON  COUNTY. 
Part  II.  A  special  study  of  the  CARBONIFEROUS  and  DEVONIAN  STRATA 
along  the  West  Branch  of  Susquehanna  River.  By  H.  Martyn  Chance.  In- 
cluded in  this  report  is  a  description  of  the  RENOVO  COAL  BASIN,  by  Chas. 
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Clinton  Counties,  by  Franklin  Platt.  Price,  $1  05 ;  postage,  $0  12. 

H.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CLEARFIELD  AND  JEFFERSON  DISTRICT 
OF  THE  BITUMINOUS  COAL  FIELDS  of  Western  Pennsylvania— 1874.  By 
Franklin  Platt.  8  vo.,  pp.  29G,  illustrated  by  139  cuts,  8  maps,  and  2  sections. 
Price  in  paper,  f  1  50 ;  postage,  $0  13. 

H2.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CAMBRIA  AND  SOMERSET  DISTRICT 
OF  THE  BITUMINOUS  COAL  FIELDS  of  Western  Pennsylvania — 1875,  By  F. 
and  W.  G.  Platt.  Pp.  194,  illustrated  with  84  wood-cuts,  and  4  maps  and  sec- 
tions. Part  I.  Cambria.  Price,  $1  00 ;  postage,  $0  12. 

H3.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CAMBRIA  AND  SOMERSET  DISTRICT 
OF  THE  BITUMINOUS  COAL  FIELDS  of  Western  Pennsjdvania — 1876.  By  F. 
and  W.  G.  Platt.  Pp.  348,  illustrated  by  110  wood-cuts  and  6  maps  and  sec- 
tions. Part  II.  Somerset.  Price,  $0  85  ;  postage,  $0  IS. 

H4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDIANA  COUNTY— 1877.  By  W.  G.  Platt. 
Pp.  316.  With  a  colored  map  of  the  county.  Price,  $0  80 ;  postage,  £0  14. 

HS.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  ARMSTRONG  COUNTY— 1879.  By  W.G.  Platt. 
Pp.  338.  With  a  colored  map  of  the  couaty.  Price,  $0  75'  postage,  50  16. 

(2) 


HS.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  -IN  JEFFERSON  COUNTY— 1880 ;  with  colored 
map  of  county.  By  W.  G.  Platt.  Price,  fO  60 ;  postage,  $0  12. 

H.'  A  REVISION  OF  THE  BITUMINOUS  COAL  MEASURES  OF  CLEARFIELD 
COUNTY— 1884 ;  with  a  colored  geological  county  inap  ;  outcrop  map  of  the 
Houtzdale  Basin,  and  coal  bed  sections  in  the  text.  By  H.  M.  Chance.  .Price, 
§  ;  postage,  $ 

I*.  QUAKER  HILL  COAL  BASIN,  WARREN  COUNTY.  By  John  F.  Carll. 
(Sea  Reports  Petroleum  Fields.) 

K.  REPORT  ox  GREENE  AND  WASHINGTON  COUNTIES— 1875,  Bituminous 
Coal  Fields.  By  J.  J.  Stevenson,  8  vo.,  pp.  420,  illustrated  by  3  sections  and  2 
county  maps,  showing  the  depth  of  the  Pittsburgh  and  Waynesburg  coal  bed 
beneath  the  surface  at  numerous  points.  Price  in  paper,  fO  65 ;  postage,  §0  16. 

K2.  REPORT  OK  PROGRESS  IN  THE  FAYETTE  AND  WESTMORELAND  DIS- 
TRICT OF  THE  BITUMINOUS  COAL  FIELDS  of  Western  Pennsylvania 1876. 

By  J.  J.  Stevenson ;  pp.  437,  illustrated  by  50  wood-cuts  and  3  county  maps, 
colored.  Part  I.  Eastern  Allegheny  County,  and  Fayette  and  Westmore- 
land Counties,  west  from  Chestnut  Ridge.  Price,  §1  40;  postage,  $0  20. 

K3.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  FAYETTE  AND  WESTMORELAND  DIS- 
TRICT OF  THE  BITUMINOUS  COAL  FIELDS  of  Western  Pennsylvania — 1877.  By 
J.J.Stevenson.  Pp.331.  Part  II.  The  LIGONIER  VALLEY.  Illustrated  with 
107  wood-cuts,  2  plates,  and  2  county  maps,  colored.  Price,  ?1  40 ;  postage, 
fO  10. 

M,  M2  and  M3.  REPORTS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  LABORATORY.  By  An- 
drew S.  McCreath.  Contains  coal  analyses. 

P.  REPORT  AND  ATLAS  OF  THE  COAL  FLORA.    By  Leo  Lesquereux. 

P2.  REPORT  OF  THE  PERMIAN  AND  UPPER  CARBONIFEROUS  FLORA. 
By  Wm.  M.  Fontaine  and  I.  C.  White.  (See  Miscellaneous  Reports.) 

Q,.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  BEAVER  RIVER  DISTRICT  OF  THE  BITU- 
MINOUS COAL  FIELDS  OF  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA.  By  I.  C.  White.  Pp. 
337,  illustrated  with  3  Geological  maps  of  parts  of  Beaver,  Butler,  and  Alle- 
gheny Counties,  and  21  plates  of  vertical  sections.  1875.  Price,  $1  40 ;  post- 
age, SO  20. 

Q,2.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  1877.  The  Geology  of  LAWRENCE  COUNTY, 
to  which  is  appended  a  Special  Report  on  the  CORRELATION  OF  THE  COAL 
MEASURES  in  Western  Pennsylvania  and  Eastern  Ohio.  8  vo.,  pp.  336,  with 
a  colored  Geological  Map  of  the  county,  and  134  vertical  sections.  By  I.  C. 
White.  Price,  $0  70 ;  postage,  fO  15. 

Q,3.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  1878.  The  Geology  of  MERCER  COUNTY, 
by  I.  C.  White,  with  a  colored  geological  map  of  county,  and  119  vertical  sec- 
tions. 8  vo.,  pp.  233.  Price,  $0  60 ;  postage,  $0  11. 

R.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.  The  Geology  of  MCKEAN  COUNTY,  and  its  con- 
nection with  that  of  CAMERON,  ELK,  and  FOREST,  with  Atlas  containing  8 
sheets  of  maps  and  sections.  By  Chas.  A.  Ashburner.  Price,  $1  70 ;  postage, 
SO  22. 

T.  COAL  MEASURES,  BLAIR  COUNTY.    By  Franklin  Platt. 

T2.  COAL  MEASURES,  BEDFORD  AND  FULTON  COUNTIES.  By  J.  J.  Ste- 
venson. (See  Reports  Central  Pennsylvania) 

V.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS— 1878.  Part  I.  The  Northern  Townships  of  But- 
ler county.  Part  II.  A  special  survey  made  in  1875,  along  the  Beaver  and 
Shenango  rivers,  in  BEAVER,  LAWRENCE,  and  MERCER  COUNTIES.  8  vo., 
pp.  248,  with  4  maps,  1  profile  section  and  154  vertical  sections.  By  H.  Mar- 
tyn  Chance.  Price,  $0  70 ;  postage,  $0  15. 


V2.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  1879.  8  vo.,  pp.  232.  The  Geology  of  CLAR- 
ION COUNTY,  by  H.  Martyn  Chance,  with  colored  geological  map  of  county, 
a  map  of  the  Anticlinals  and  OIL  BELT,  a  contoured  map  of  the  Old  River 
Channel  at  Parker,  83  local  sections  figured  in  the  text,  and  4  page  plates. 
Price,  ?0  43 ;  postage,  £0  12. 

PETROLEUM  FIELDS. 

I.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE*VEXAXGO  COUNTY  DISTRICT — 1874.  By 
John  F.  Carll.  With  observations  on  the  Geology  aronnd  Warren,  by  F.  A. 
Randall;  and  Notes  on  the  Comparative  Geology  of  North-eastern  Ohio  and 
North-western  Pennsylvania,  and  Western  New  York,  by  J.  P.  Lesley.  8  vo., 
pp.  127,  with  2  maps,  a  long  section,  and  7  cuts  in  the  text.  Price  in  paper, 
$0  60 ;  postage,  $0  05. 

12.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  OIL  WELLS,  RECORDS,  AND  LEVELS — 1876-7. 
By  John  F.  Carll.    Pp.  398.     Published  in  advance  of  Report  of  Progress,  III. 
Price,  SO  60 ;  postage,  $0  18. 

13.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS — 1875  to  1879.    Geology  of  the  OIL  REGIONS  OF 
WARREN,  YEXANOO,  CLARION,  AND  BUTLER  COUNTIES,  including  surveys 
of  the  GARLAND  and  PANAMA  CONGLOMERATES  in  Warren  and  Crawford 
counties,  and  in  Chautauqua  county.  New  York,  with  descriptions  of  oil  well 
rig  and  tools,  and  a  discussion  of  the  preglacial  and  postglacial  drainage  of  the 
LAKE  ERIE  COUNTRY;  with  Atlas.    With  maps  and  charts  of  Oil  Regions. 
By  John  F.  Carll.     Price,  §1  30 ;  postage,  $0  30. 

14.  GEOLOGICAL   REPORT  OF  WARREN  COUNTY  AND  NEIGHBORING  OIL 
REGIONS,  with  additional  oil  well  records— 1880-3.     By  John  F.  Carll,  with 
colored  geological  map  of  Warren  county,  two  sheets  of  oil  well  sections,  and 
a  map  of  the  Warren  oil  region.     439  pages.     Price,  $1  12  ;  postage,  $0  20. 

Jo  SPECIAL  REPORT  ON  THE  PETROLEUM  OF  PENNSYLVANIA — 1874,  its 
Production,  Transportation,  Manufacture,  and  Statistics.  By  Henry  E.  Wrig- 
ley.  To  which  are  added  a  Map  and  Profile  of  a  line  of  levels  through  Butler, 
Armstrong,  and  Clarion  Counties,  by  D.  Jones  Lucas :  and  also  a  Map  and 
Profile  of  a  line  of  levels  along  Slippery  Rock  Creek,  by  J.  P.  Lesley.  8  vo., 
pp.  122 ;  5  maps  and  sections,  a, plate  and  5  cuts.  Price  in  paper,  §0  75  ;  post- 
age, ?0  06. 

K.  DUNKARD  CREEK  OIL  DISTRICT,  GREENE  COUNTY.  By  J.  J.  Steven- 
son. (See  Reports  Bituminous  Coal  Fields.) 

Li.  Appendix  II.  A  REPORT  ON  THE  USE  OF  NATURAL  GAS  IN  IRON 
MANUFACTURE.  By  John  B.  Pearse.  (See  Miscellaneous  Reports.) 

Q,2.  DESCRIPTION  OF  OIL  MEASURES  IN  AND  ADJACENT  TO  LAWRENCE 
COUNTY.  By  I.  C.  White.  (See  Reports  Bituminous  Coal  Fields.) 

Q,4.  DESCRIPTION  OF  OIL  MEASURES  IN  AND  ADJACENT  TO  EIRE  AND 
CRAWFORD  COUNTIES.  By  I.  C.  White.  (See  Reports  North-western  Penn- 
sylvania. ) 

R.  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BRADFORD  OIL  DISTRICT  IN  M^KEAN  COUNTY, 
with  a  reference  to  the  probable  position  of  the  Oil  Sands  in  Elk  county.  By 
Chas.  A.  Ashburner.  (See  Reports  Bituminous  Coal  Fields.) 

V2.  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  OIL  MEASURES  IN  CLARION  COUNTY.  By  H. 
M.  Chance.  (See  Reports  Bituminous  Coal  Fields.) 

NORTH- WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Q,4.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS — 1879.  The  Geology  of  ERIE  AND  CRAWFORD 
COUNTIES,  with  tables  of  barometric  heights  in  each  township,  and  notes  on 
the  place  of  the  SHARON  CONGLOMERATE  in  the  Palaeozoic  series.  By  I.  C. 

(4) 


W  bite.  Also,  the  discovery  of  the  PKEGI.ACIAL  OUTLET  OF  LAKE  ERIE, 
with  two  maps  of  the  Lake  Region.  By  J .  W.  Spencer,  Ph.  D.  Price,  $1  17  ; 
postage,  $0  18. 

I,  I-,  I3.  I*,  Q,3,  V,  V2  and  R.    PETROLEUM  REGION  REPORTS.    By  John 
F.  Carll,  I.  C.  White,  U.  M.  Chance,  and  Chas.  A.  Ashburner. 


CENTRAL  PENNSYLVANIA. 

F.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  JUNIATA  DISTRICT  on  Fossil  Iron  Ore 
Beds  of  Middle  Pennsylvania.     By  John  H.  Dewees.    With  a  report  of  the 
AUGHWICK  VALLEY  AND  EAST   BROAD  TOP  DISTRICT.    By  C.  A.  Ash- 
burner.     1874-S.    Illustrated  with  7  Geological  maps  and  19  sections.    8  vo., 
pp.  305.     Price,  $2  55 ;  postage,  $0  20. 

G.  REPORT    OF    PROGRESS  IN  BRADFORD  AND   TIOGA  COUNTIES.    By 
Andrew  Sherwood.     (See  Reports  Bituminous  Coal  Fields.) 

G2.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.  GEOLOGY  OF  LYCOMING  AND  SULLIVAN 
COUNTIES.  I.  Field  Notes  by  Andrew  Sherwood.  II.  Coal  Basins,  by 
Franklin  Platt.  With  two  colored  geological  county  maps  and  numerous 
illustrations.  8  vo.,  pp.  268.  Price,  $1  06;  postage,  $0  14. 

G1  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  CLINTON  COUNTY.  By  H.  M.  Chance.  (See 
Reports  Bituminous  Coal  Fields. ) 

G'.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.  THE  GEOLOGY  IN  THE  SUSQUEHANNA 
RIVER  REGION  IN  THE  Six  COUNTIES  OF  WYOMING,  LACKAWMNNA,  Lu- 
ZERNE,  COLUMBIA,  MONTOUR,  AND  NORTHUMBERLAND.  By  I.  C.  White. 
With  a  colored  Geological  Map  in  2  sheets;  and  31  page  plates  in  text.  Pp. 
464.  Price,  50  85 ;  postage,  $0  20. 

T.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.  Geology  of  BLAIR  COUNTY,  with  35  illustra- 
trations  and  an  Atlas  of  14  sheets  of  the  colored  map  of  MORRISON'S  COVE, 
Ac. ;  1  index  sheet,  and  2  sheets  of  colored  sections.  By  Franklin  Platt. 
Price  of  Report  and  Atlas,  $4  55 ;  postage,  ?0  28. 

T2.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS — 1882.  The  geology  of  BEDFORD  AND  FULTON 
COUNTIES.  By  J.  J.  Stevenson.  8  vo.,  pp.  382.  Illustrated  with  2  colored 
geological  maps.  Price,  $0  80  ;  postage,  {0  20. 


NORTH-EASTEBN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

G3.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  SUSQUEHANNA  COUNTY 
AND  WAYNE  COUNTY.  By  I.  C.  White.  Pp.  243,  with  Geological  map  and 
58  sections.  Price,  $0  70 ;  postage,  fO  12. 

Gc.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS,  1881.  THE  GEOLOGY  OF  PIKE  AND  MONROE 
COUNTIES.  By  I.  C.  White.  8  vo.,  pp.  407.  Illustrated  with  colored  Geo- 
logical county  maps,  a  map  of  glacial  scratches,  and  7  small  sections.  Also 
special  surveys  of  the  DELAWARE  AND  LEHIGH  WATER  GAPS.  By  H.  M. 
Chance,  with  2  contoured  maps  of  Water  Gaps,  and  5  detailed  sections.  Price, 
$1  15 ;  postage,  fO  15. 

G:.  THE  GEOLOGY  IN  THE  SUSQUEHANNA  (NORTH  BRANCH)  RIVER 
REGION  IN  THE  Six  COUNTIES  OF  WYOMING,  LACKA WANNA,  LUZERNE, 
COLUMBIA,  MONTOUR,  NORTHUMBERLAND,  (exclusive  of  ANTHRACITE  RE- 
GION.) By  I.  C.  White.  (See  Reports  Central  Pennsylvania.) 

G.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  BRADFORD  AND  TIOGA  COUNTIES.  By 
Andrew  Sherwood.  (See  Reports  Bituminous  Coal  Fields.) 

A=,  AA,  and  AC.  ANTHRACITE  REGION  REPORTS.  By  Franklin  Platt, 
Chas.  A.  Ashburner,  and  H.  M.  Chance.  (See  Reports  Anthracite  Coal  Fields.) 


SOUTH-EASTERN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

C.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  ON  YORK  AND  ADAMS  COUNTIES— 1874.    By 
Persifor  Frazer.     8vo.,  pp.  198,  illustrated  by  8  maps  and  sections  and  other 
illustrations.     Price  in  paper,  $0  85  ;  postage,  ?0  10. 

C2.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  COUNTIES  OF  YORK,  ADAMS,  CUMBER- 
LAND, AND  FRANKLIN — 1875.  Illustrated  by  maps  and  cross-sections,  show- 
ing the  Magnetic  and  Micaceous  Ore  Belt  near  the  western  edge  of  the  Meso- 
zoic  Sandstone  and  the  two  Azoic  systems  constituting  the  mass  of  the  South 
Mountains,  with  a  preliminary  discussion  on  the  DILLSBURG  ORE  BED  and 
catalogue  of  specimens  collected  in  1875.  By  Persifor  Frazer.  Price,  ?1  25 ; 
postage,  $0  12. 

C3.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  1877.  The  Geology  of  LANCASTER  COUNTY, 
with  an  atlas  containing  a  colored  geological  map  of  the  county,  local  map  of 
the  GAP  NICKEL  MINE,  map  and  sections  of  the  East  Bank  of  Susquehanna 
River ;  other  geological  sections  across  the  county,  and  geological  colored  maps 
of  York  and  Lancaster  counties.  By  Persifor  Frazer.  8  vo.,  pp.  350.  Price 
of  Report  and  Atlas,  $2  20 ;  postage,  $0  25. 

C*.  GEOLOGY  OF  CHESTER  COUNTY,  after  the  surveys  of  Henrj'  D.  Rogers, 
Persifor  Frazer  and  Charles  E.  Hall,  edited  by  J.  P.  Lesley — with  a  colored 
geological  map  of  the  county,  three  lithographic  plates  and  maps,  and  sections 
in  the  text.  Price,  $0  75 ;  postage,  $0  18. 

Cc.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.  GEOLOGY  OF  PHILADELPHIA  COUNTY,  AND 
OF  THE  SOUTHERN  PARTS  OF  MONTGOMERY  AND  BUCKS.  By  Charles  E. 
Hall.  Pp.  145,  with  Geological  map,  sheet  of  colored  cross-sections,  and  24 
page  cuts.  Price,  $1  65 :  postage,  $0  13. 

D.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  BROWN  HEMATITE  ORE  RANGES  OF  LE- 
HIGH  COUNTY — 1874,  with  descriptions  of  mines  lying  between  Emaus,  Al- 
burtis,  and  Fogelsville.     By  Frederick  Prime.  Jr.    8vo.,  pp.  73,  with  a  contour- 
line  map  and  8  cuts.    Price  in  paper,  $0  50 ;  postage,  80  04. 

D2.  THE  BROWN  HEMATITE  DEPOSITS  OF  THE  SILURO-CAMBRIAN  LIME- 
STONES OF  LEHIGH  COUNTY,  lying  between  Shimersville,  Millerstown, 
Schencksville,  Ballietsville,  and  the  Lehigh  river — 1875-6.  By  Frederick 
Prime,  Jr.  8  vo.,  pp.  99,  with  5  map-sheets  and  5  plates.  Price,  51  60:  post- 
age, ?0  12. 

D3.  VOL.  I.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.  GEOLOGY  OF  LEHIGH  AND  NORTH- 
AMPTON COUNTIES.  General  introduction,  by  J.  P.  Lesley.  Slate  Belt  and 
Quarries,  by  R.  A.  Sanders.  Water  Gaps,  by  H.  M.  Chance.  Limestone  Belt 
and  Iron  Ore  Mines,  by  F.  Prime.  South  Mountain  Rocks,  by  F.  Prime. 
Itinerary  Survey,  by  C.  E.  Hall.  Three  lithograph  and  3  artotype  -views  of 
quarries,  and  an  atlas.  Pp.  283.  Price,  $0  65 ;  postage,  fO  13. 

D3.  VOL.  II.  PART  I.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS.  GEOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUTH 
MOUNTAIN  BELT  OF  BERKS  COUNTY.  By  E.  V.  D'Invilliers.  Illustrated 
by  18  page  plates  in  the  text,  and  by  the  maps  in  the  Atlas.  Pp.  441.  Price, 
$0  55  ;  postage,  ?0  18. 

D3.  Volumes  I  and  II,  ATLAS,  containing  a  colored  contour  map  of  Southern 
Northampton  on  C  sheets,  a  contour  map  of  the  mountain  on  18  sheets,  a  geo- 
logical index  map  on  1  sheet,  a  colored  geological  map  of  NORTHAMPTON 
AND  LEHIGH  COUNTIES,  and  4  maps  of  IRON  MINES  IN  BERKS  COUNTY. 
Price,  §2  80 ;  postage,  $0  17. 

D5.  MAPS  OF  ADAMS,  FRANKLIN,  AND  CUMBERLAND  COUNTIES.  South 
Mountain  sheets  A1,  A2,  B1  and  B2.  By  A.  E.  Lehman.  Price,  $1  25 ;  post- 
age, $0  08. 

(6) 


E.  SPECIAL  REPORT  PN  THE  TRAP  DYKES  AND  Azoic  ROCKS  OF  SOUTH- 
EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA— 1875.  Part  I,  Historical  Introduction.  By  T. 
Sterry  Hunt.  8  vo.,  pp.  253.  Price,  $0  48 ;  postage,  $0  12. 

MISCELLANEOUS  REPORTS. 

A.  HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  GEOLOGICAL  EXPLORATIONS  in  Pennsylvania 
and  other  States.     By  J.  P.  Lesley.     With  appendix,   containing  Annual 
Reports  lor  1874  and  1875  ;  pp.  226,  8vo.     Price  in  paper,  $0  25 ;  postage,  $0  06. 

B.  PRELIMINARY  REPORT  OF  THE  MINERALOGY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA — 
1874.     By  Dr.  F.  A.  Genth.     With  appendix  on  the  Iwdro-carbon  compounds, 
by  Samuel  P.  Sadtler.     8vo.,  pp.  206,  with  map  of  the  State  for  reference  to 
counties.     Price  in  paper,  $0  50 ;  postage,  $0  08.     Price  in  cloth,  §0  75 ;  post- 
age, $0  10. 

lit  1875 — SPECIAL  REPORT  ON  THE  COKE  MANUFACTURE  OF  THE  YOUGH- 
IOGHENY  RIVER  VALLEY  IN  FAYETTE  AND  WESTMORELAND  COUNTIES, 
with  Geological  Notes  of  the  Coal  and  Iron  Ore  Beds,  from  Surveys,  by  Charles 
A.  Young;  by  Franklin  Platt.  To  which  are  appended:  I.  A  Report  on 
Methods  of  Coking,  by  John  Fulton.  II.  A  Report  on  the  use  of  Natural  Gas 
in  the  Iron  Manufacture,  by  John  B.  Pearse,  Franklin  Platt,  and  Professor 
Sadtler.  Pp.  252.  Price,  $1  00 ;  postage,  $0  13. 

M.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  LABORATORY  OF  THE  SURVEY  AT 
HARRISBURG— 1874-5.  By  Andrew  S.  McCreath.  8  vo.,  pp.  105.  Price  in 
paper,  $0  50 :  postage,  $0  05. 

M-.  SECOND  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  LABORATORY  OF  THE  SUR- 
VEY, at  Harrisburg,  by  Andrew  S.  McCreath — 1876-8,  including  I.  Classifica- 
tion of  Coals,  by  Persifor  Frazer.  II.  Firebrick  Tests,  by  Franklin  Platt. 
III.  Notes  on  Dolomitic  Limestones,  by  J.  P.  Lesley.  IV.  Utilization  of  An- 
thracite Slack,  by  Franklin  Platt.  V.  Determination  of  Carbon  in  Iron  or 
Steel,  by  A.  S.  McCreath.  With  3  indexes,  plate,  and  4  page  plates.  Pp.  438. 
Price  in  cloth,  $0  65  ;  postage,  fO  18. 

M3.  THIRD  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS  IN  THE  LABORATORY  OF  THE  SURVEY, 
at  Harrisburg.  Analyses,  &c.,  &c.  By  Andrew  S.  McCreath.  Pp.  126,  with 
2  indexes  and  map.  Price,  fO  40  ;  postage,  $0  10. 

N.  REPORT  OF  PROGRESS — 1875-6-7.  Two  HUNDRED  TABLES  OF  ELEVA- 
TION ABOVE  TIDE-LEVEL  of  the  Railroad  Stations,  Summits  and  Tunnels; 
Canal  Locks  and  Dams,  River  Riffles,  &c.,  in  and  around  Pennsylvania;  with 
map ;  pp.  279.  By  Charles  Allen.  Price,  $0  70 ;  postage,  $0  15. 

O.  CATALOGUE  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  MUSUEM— 1874-5-6-7.  By  Charles  E. 
Hall.  Part  I.  Collection  of  Rock  Specimens.  Nos.  1  to  4,264.  Pp.  217.  Price, 
|0  40 :  postage,  $0  10. 

O2.  CATALOGUE  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  MUSEUM.  By  Charles  E.  Hall.  Part 
II.  1.  Collections  of  rock  specimens,  Nos.  4265  to  8974.  2.  Palaeontological 
specimens.  Price,  $0  40  ;  postage,  $0  12. 

p.  1879 REPORT  AND  ATLAS  OF  THE  COAL  FLORA  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 

AND    OF    THE     CARBONIFEROUS     FORMATION     THROUGHOUT     THE    UNITED 

STATES.    By  Leo  Lesquereux.    Price  of  Report,  $0  80  ;  postage,  fO  28.    Price 
of  Atlas,  $3  35;  postage,  fO  22. 

P*.  THE  PERMIAN  OR  UPPER  CARBONIFEROUS  FLORA  OF  WEST  VIR- 
GINIA AND  S.  W.  PENNSYLVANIA,  with  38  plates.  By  Win.  M.  Fontaine, 
M.  A.,  and  I.  C.  White,  A.  M.  Price,  f2  25  ;  postage,  fO  17. 


Other  Reports  of  the  Survey  are  in  the  hands  of  the  State  Printer,  and 
will  soon  be  published. 


The  sale  of  the  reports  is  conducted  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
Section  10  of  the  Act  of  the  14th  day  of  May,  1874,  which  directs  that  copies 
of  the  Reports,  with  all  maps  and  supplements,  shall  be  furnished  at  cost  of 
publication  to  all  applicants  for  them. 

All  the  printed  volumes  and  maps  in  stock  have  been  transferred  by  the 
Board  of  Commissioners  to  the  Department  of  Internal  Affairs,  where  the 
sales  thereof  will  hereafter  be  conducted. 

Communications  relating  to  the  work  of  the  Survey  should  be  addressed  to 
J.  P.  Lesley,  State  Geologist,  No.  1008  Clinton  street,  Philadelphia,  and  those 
intended  for  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  to  William  A.  Ingharn,  Secretary, 
No.  907  Walnut  street,  Philadelphia. 

All  letters  and  orders  concerning  the  purchase  of  Reports  and  remittances 
for  the  same,  should  be  addressed  to, 

J.  SIMPSON  AFRICA, 
/Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs, 
Harrisburg,  Pa. 

April  1,  1S84. 


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